Packers quarterback Jordan Love could return this week from knee injury

Jordan Love could return from his Week 1 MCL injury sooner than expected.

In fact, the Green Bay Packers quarterback has a “50-50” chance of playing against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). ESPN reported on ThursdayLove practiced Wednesday for the first time since suffering a sprained MCL in the Packers’ Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He was officially listed as a limited participant.

After Wednesday’s practice, Love He told reporters “It feels much better,” he said, but he is taking his knee injury “day by day” and did not reveal what his condition will be for Sunday’s game.

“The coaches see everything I do and they’re not going to put me in action unless they feel confident that I can protect myself,” Love said. “But at the same time, that’s why it’s good to get some practice reps and get a feel for what it’s like again.”

Whether Love will play Sunday or not, his rapid recovery is a surprise. When he suffered the MCL sprain, it was initially reported that he would miss at least three weeks and could be out as long as six weeks.

Love admitted Wednesday that he thought his season might be over when he suffered the injury, describing it as “very painful.”

“When it happened, it was one of those things that was really scary,” Love said. “I didn’t know what had happened. I tore my meniscus in college, but I’d never had an ACL injury or anything like that. I didn’t know how I felt. I didn’t know what it could be. So I had a lot of thoughts.”

Love was seen wearing a brace during Wednesday’s practice, a sign that he’s not yet 100 percent. Packers coach Matt LaFleur also wouldn’t say whether Love was working on rep counts. But Love knows that practice alone might not fully prepare him to play in a game when he returns.

“There’s nothing like it when you’re dealing with real bullets, you’re in the game and the excitement is real, so there’s a lot of things you might not experience before you get back in the game,” Love said.

At the very least, it appears Love has a good chance to play in Week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings. That matchup has become an important early-season clash, with Minnesota off to a surprising 2-0 start in the post-Kirk Cousins ​​era. Green Bay also has games against the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans in the next three weeks. Ideally, the Packers would like the quarterback they turned into one of the highest-paid players in the NFL this offseason to be able to start each of those games.

First, the Packers have to get past the Titans. While Tennessee is 0-2 and Green Bay was able to beat the Love-less Indianapolis Colts last week, the Titans are familiar with the quarterback who would start in place of Love if he can’t play Sunday. Malik Willis was selected by the Titans in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft but was traded to the Packers for a seventh-round pick in August.

Willis, however, does not view Sunday’s matchup as a potential rematch.

“I don’t care about anything,” Willis said. “I feel like I got paid the whole time I was there. I feel beyond blessed for the opportunities they gave me. They brought me into this league whether those guys are there or not. That organization took a gamble on me. … They did a great job with me.”

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