For the first time since 2007, Aaron Rodgers is not the Packers’ starting quarterback. That torch was passed to Jordan Love the moment Rodgers joined the Jets.
Rodgers started 223 games, won 147 regular-season games, 11 postseason games, a Super Bowl and four league MVPs. He started a Packer and will be remembered as a Packer no matter what he does in New York.
The Packers will miss him. The only question is: For how long?
“Just his presence in the locker room and the things that he brings to the game, the experience, all the stories that he had to tell and all that, he’s going to be missed in our locker room, for sure,” Elton Jenkins admitted Monday during an appearance on Good Morning Football.
In three seasons, Love has appeared in only 10 games, with one start, and has seen action on 157 snaps with 83 attempts.
The Packers went 6-10 in Rodgers’ first season as a starter after he sat behind Brett Favre for three years. They expect more from Love in his first season as a starter.
“When he first got into the league, he wasn’t our starter, but the way he walked around the locker room, the way he approached the game, he always approached every game as a starter,” Jenkins said of Love. “So, we know that he’s a good player and just ready to go on Sunday or whenever we play. In OTAs, I’ve seen a lot of good things from Jordan, a lot of leadership. He stepped up as a leader a lot , so I’m very excited for his future and ready to play with him.”
The Packers’ youth movement is under way. No one expects much from them, and the Packers are fine with low (or no) expectations.
“Winning the division is always the standard,” Jenkins said. “It’s always the standard in our locker room and in our building. We feel like we’re the best team in our division, and we’re going to go out there every week wherever and show that we are the best team in the division and the best team in the NFC.”