With Green Bay Packers Jordan Love in the thick of training camp as his first year as the full-time starter, the 2020 first-round selection has the backing of former Packer quarterback Kurt Benkert, who spent time on the Packers’ practice squad and active roster throughout the 2021 season.  

Appearing on Up & Adams, hosted by former Good Morning Football host Kay Adams, Benkert said that what makes Love special is “his ability to change his arm angle. … He’s a talented thrower. I’m just excited for him to unleash it on gameday when he’s not necessarily having to follow the rules of the system, which he is going to do. He’s going to do a really good job at that.”  

In the team’s first game of the preseason slate against the Cincinnati Bengals, Love’s throws were primarily of the short and intermediate varierty, although he did take a deep shot to wide receiver Christian Watson that was broken up by the safety. The fact that Love’s throws were of that variety may be design as head coach Matt LaFleur wanted Love to focus on the fundamentals and to give him “easy” throws to complete, or it could have been the case that Love was simply taking what the defense gave to him. 

Either way, Benkert is excited for Love’s future once Love becomes more comfortable and can add his own intricacies to the playbook. “When he can put his spin on what those things look like, I think it’s going to be really fun to watch, and I hope it happens sooner rather than later,” Benkert told Adams. “You’re seeing the elements of his game develop. I know I’ve been seeing a lot of people call him a game manager and that’s what he’s going to be, but that’s not it. He’s got a lot of talent.” 

Benkert’s excitement for Love was not limited to his appearance on Up & Adams. Love’s nine-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Romeo Doubs in the first quarter of Friday’s preseason game prompted the following response from Benkert. 

Dime. That touch was a vet throw.

— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) August 11, 2023

Love went up against an experienced New England Patriots defense Wednesday, with the teams holding joint practices together in Green Bay leading up to Saturday’s contest, and by all accounts performed well. He went 7-for-10 during the first live team period against the Patriots; most of the passes were short and intermediate, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. Most impressively, he connected at one point with Watson on a beautiful deep ball down the left sideline. 

Play of the day from Ray Nitschke Field vs the Patriots. pic.twitter.com/DYcelCxyBa

— Matt (@KuhnwaldMatt) August 16, 2023

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, an eight-time Super Bowl champion who sparingly offers glowing remarks regarding opposing players, was impressed with the young quarterback after Wednesday’s practice, calling him “a talented player,” according to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Alex Barth. (Yes, I had to double-check that the tweet wasn’t from a parody account.) 

For all the Packers fans that found this and are wondering if it’s an empty compliment from Belichick, FWIW it’s not his typical filler line when it comes to talking about QBs… https://t.co/p3gqxR3oee

— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) August 17, 2023

Thursday was a different story for the young quarterback. According to Bill Huber, Love was 14-of-31, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions.