{"id":40652,"date":"2025-12-27T15:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=40652"},"modified":"2025-12-27T15:54:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T15:54:05","slug":"when-jordan-love-went-down-malik-willis-got-the-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=40652","title":{"rendered":"When Jordan Love went down, Malik Willis got the call"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR61WDJUzyGqsQd1X3mj-KPi4pyih61Uq5kGg&amp;s\" alt=\"Jordan Love Injured on this Illegal Hit | Green Bay Packers Vs Chicago Bears\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>When backup plans meet backup plans meet backup plans<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The Green Bay Packers are getting absolutely wrecked by the injury and illness gods heading into Saturday\u2019s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Starting quarterback Jordan Love got downgraded from questionable to out on Friday after failing to clear all the required stages of the concussion protocol following last week\u2019s overtime loss to Chicago. So now Malik Willis, who threw the game-winning touchdown against the Bears but also injured his throwing shoulder on the final play, is starting in his place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">This isn\u2019t a situation where the Packers have a healthy backup ready to roll. This is a situation where they\u2019re starting a guy who\u2019s limited in practice all week because of a shoulder injury and who also missed a day of preparation because he was dealing with illness spreading through the locker room. It\u2019s backup plan chaos meeting real-world complications, and the Packers are trying to hold onto their playoff hopes while navigating it all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">\u201cIt\u2019s just a very delicate issue, you know what I\u2019m saying in terms of, we\u2019ve seen it with certain guys they come in, they feel great one day and then the next day they don\u2019t,\u201d Packers coach Matt LaFleur said about Love\u2019s winding path through concussion protocol. \u201cSo it kind of is a little bit of a moving target.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">That\u2019s about as honest as a coach can be about the unpredictability of head injuries.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>When the concussion protocol actually protects players<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Love\u2019s\u00a0situation is exactly why concussion protocol exists. The quarterback was limited in practice all week, seemed to be progressing through the steps, and suddenly on Friday morning the Packers realized he wasn\u2019t ready. He didn\u2019t pass all the required stages. The protocol isn\u2019t fast sometimes that\u2019s the whole point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The problem is timing. Love felt great at different points during the week. Then he\u2019d feel worse. Then better again. It\u2019s literally a moving target, which is why coaches and medical staff can\u2019t just look at a calendar and say \u201cokay, you\u2019ll be good by Saturday.\u201d Your brain doesn\u2019t work on a schedule.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">So Willis gets the start with a shoulder that\u2019s compromised and a body that\u2019s been fighting through illness. That\u2019s not ideal preparation for going against a Ravens defense, even if that defense might also be compromised with Lamar Jackson dealing with a back contusion and listed as doubtful.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>The Ravens\u2019 own quarterback problems<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Green Bay isn\u2019t the only team dealing with chaos at quarterback on Saturday. Baltimore listed Lamar Jackson as doubtful because of a back contusion. If Jackson doesn\u2019t go, Tyler Huntley will start in his place. So there\u2019s a very real possibility we\u2019re looking at Willis versus Huntley two backup quarterbacks who didn\u2019t expect to be starting this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">That would be a weird game, even by NFL standards. Two teams fighting for playoff positioning, both rolling with emergency quarterbacks. It\u2019s the kind of situation that can come down to which offense can execute basic football despite the absences, which defense can make things difficult for backup QBs, and honestly, who wants it more.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>The depth chart getting creative<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Clayton Tune, who has literally spent the entire season on the practice squad, will probably be Willis\u2019 backup. The Packers have to add him to the active roster Saturday because he wasn\u2019t included in Friday\u2019s roster moves. They placed linebacker Kristian Welch on injured reserve (ankle), which cleared a spot. The team also downgraded guard Aaron Banks and receiver Savion Williams to questionable after both got hit with the illness spreading through Green Bay\u2019s facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">This is basically the Packers playing three-dimensional chess with a roster that\u2019s dealing with injuries, illness, and concussion protocol all at the same time.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>The playoff reality despite the chaos<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Here\u2019s the good news for Green Bay: they already clinched a playoff spot Thursday when Detroit lost to Minnesota. They\u2019re mathematically in. But they still have a realistic path to winning the NFC North if they win out against Baltimore and their final opponent while the Bears lose their last two games. That\u2019s the carrot hanging in front of the\u00a0Packers\u00a0despite having Willis starting and a locker room dealing with spreading illness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">So Saturday becomes about more than just getting a win. It\u2019s about proving they can survive significant adversity at the most important position and still compete. It\u2019s about showing that even with Love sidelined, even with Willis limited, even with a rotating door of illness affecting practice participation, Green Bay can still execute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">That\u2019s playoff mentality. That\u2019s what teams have to do in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When backup plans meet backup plans meet backup plans The Green Bay Packers are getting absolutely wrecked by the injury and illness gods heading into Saturday\u2019s game&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Jordan Love went down, Malik Willis got the call - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=40652\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Jordan Love went down, Malik Willis got the call - 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