Before the team took the practice field on Tuesday, general manager Brian Gutekunst announced that Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love will undergo a procedure on his left thumb. Gutekunst downplayed the severity, noting that Love will be ready for Week 1 and should return to practice next week. Still, it’s another injury to add to the list for Love in the last two seasons.
How concerning is this one in the grand scheme of things?
Talking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Gutekunst said the team had reviewed all the options and determined that undergoing a procedure on the thumb was the best course of action.
Obviously, you guys saw him out there, he certainly was able to function. But as we looked at all the options and he did as well, the best option I think for him to get back the fastest and feel the best was to do this. He wanted to go out there yesterday to kind of see how it felt, and once we got through that, we made the decision.
Gutekunst went on to call it a “little procedure” to downplay any doom-and-gloom speculation further.
Indeed, it’s not the end of the world for Love and the Packers. Love should be back at practice next week and will have plenty of time to get more meaningful reps in before the regular-season debut against the Detroit Lions.
However, in the broader context, this current setback marks the fourth separate injury in Love’s last two seasons, raising the question of whether he may be more prone to injuries than others.
It’s not his fault. Let’s start with that. However, the number of injuries in such a short period of time is alarming.
In Week 1 of the 2024 season, his MCL injury in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles cost Love the next two games. When he returned in Week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings, his discomfort was evident, and he showed little to no signs of mobility.
In Week 8, it was a groin injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars that had Love sidelined for the entire second half of that game. The injury lingered, as Love didn’t look the same in Week 9 on a rain-soaked Lambeau Field against Detroit.
Finally, there was the elbow injury in Week 18 against the Chicago Bears. While Love probably wouldn’t have played the full game anyway, that one sidelined him immediately for the rest of the contest.
You could write it off easily enough as Love just missing two full games and half of two others — not ideal, but also not a huge deal. Still, it’s something else entirely that those three total games missed were the result of three separate injuries, and now there’s a fourth on the radar with the thumb issue. It’s fair to wonder whether this will be a recurring theme throughout his career. That’s where the concern can creep in.
Head coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday there will be a learning curve while dealing with this specific injury.
From what I’ve been understanding that it’s a pretty relatively quick recovery, so hopefully we’ll be able to get him back out in some capacity some time next week to work on and work through — because I’ve never personally dealt with a situation like this. So there’s going to be some learning curve along the way in terms of how do we adapt and how do we adjust.
The cliche goes that every NFL player is banged up by the time November rolls around, and that’s probably true. Nobody is feeling 100% by Thanksgiving. However, many players don’t miss time, despite being dinged up. The specific level of wear and tear here is relevant, and whether it’s an unfortunate coincidence or a concerning trend, several different injuries have kept Love out of the field since this time last year.
There’s no reason to panic. It has all the makings of a short-term setback, given the low stakes. And of course, the fact that the procedure is on Love’s non-throwing hand is another reason to take a deep breath.
But in the long term, it’s fair to wonder whether missing time on the field, and not so infrequently, is just part of the Jordan Love experience.
This procedure could be another data point in a concerning trend line, and it could just as easily be a blip of a preseason storyline you’ve entirely forgotten by the time you buy your Halloween candy. It all depends on how well Love can stay upright and active once he returns for his third year as the centerpiece of Green Bay’s franchise.