Packers’ Jordan Love says injury to his non-throwing shoulder shouldn’t limit his effectiveness

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Jordan Love says he’s “not going to sugarcoat” the fact he’s dealing with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, however the Green Bay Packers quarterback says it isn’t something that should prevent him from playing effectively.

Love hurt his left shoulder and missed part of one series before rallying the Packers to a 27-20 victory over the New York Giants on Nov. 16. He returned to start Green Bay’s 23-6 triumph over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday but was only handing off with his right hand.

“It’s one of those where I’m able to play through it,” Love said Tuesday. “Obviously, anytime you take a hit, fall on it, you feel it. But nothing that it is holding me back or nothing that I can’t play through.”

Love is dealing with this injury as the Packers prepare to play their second game in a five-day stretch. The Packers (7-3-1) visit the Detroit Lions (7-4) on Thursday.

This is the second time this season that Love has dealt with an injury to his non-throwing hand or arm. He underwent surgery on his left thumb in August, an injury that gave him some experience at using only his right hand on handoffs.

“I think early on when I had my thumb surgery, I was doing a lot with just (my) right hand, and I think I just kind of subconsciously started doing that in this game,” Love said.

Love’s latest injury occurred when he took a big hit from Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles at the end of a scramble late in the first quarter of the Giants game. Malik Willis came in and led the Packers into the end zone before Love returned for the next series.

“It’s an injury,” Love said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”

The injury didn’t stop him from throwing two touchdown passes later in that game and leading the Packers to another victory the following week.

Love had season lows in pass attempts (21) and passing yards (139) against the Vikings, but Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said the Packers stayed conservative on offense by design because their defense was dominating the game so thoroughly.

“It’s about winning football games,” LaFleur said after the game. “At the end of the day, that’s what this thing is about. It’s just find a way to do it. It doesn’t matter necessarily how it looks. I think when you have a defense that played the way that we did today, that kind of can dictate what you do offensively, and I thought we did what we needed to do.”

Love said the Packers have taken steps to help protect his shoulder as much as possible, though he didn’t offer specifics.

“There’s things that you are able to do, and we’ve done those things,” Love said. “So we’ll continue to do them but I’m not going to continue to get into detail and talk through it, but there’s definitely some things that we’ve done to help out and be able to play and hopefully put myself in the best foot forward. But at the end of the day, anytime you’re injured, playing through things, there’s always a chance of risking more injuries, things like that.”

Sunday marked the third time in four games that Love hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass. He has two touchdown passes over his past four games after throwing 13 in Green Bay’s first seven games. He has thrown only three interceptions all season.

Love lost his most reliable option when tight end Tucker Kraft tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 2. Love has spent the past two games adjusting to taking snaps from a different player, as Sean Rhyan took over at center after Elgton Jenkins hurt his ankle. LaFleur has said Jenkins is “highly unlikely” to return this season.

The Packers did get wide receiver Christian Watson back last month after he recovered from a torn ACL. The Packers also opened the 21-day practice window for Jayden Reed last week as he prepares to return from foot and shoulder injuries that have kept him out since mid-September.

“I think the offense, we’ve got to constantly be evolving and finding ways to get guys who are kind of hot in the moment, keep feeding them and finding ways to evolve as an offense,” Love said. “That’s the journey of the season as it goes through. Injuries happen, but you’ve got to find ways to keep going and keep adjusting.”

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