As Jordan Love becomes the Packers’ starting quarterback heading into the 2023 season, he has had plenty of time to prepare for this moment. Love is entering his fourth season in the NFL, spending the first three backing up Aaron Rodgers.
While Love was on the sidelines, he got an opportunity to develop slowly in a way young quarterbacks rarely do now. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur believes Love has made tremendous progress over the past year specifically, and he credits QB coach Tom Clements for that jump.
“Just watching him last year. I think Jordan’s made some huge strides,” LaFleur said, via NFL.com. “I really do, and I think a lot of it is a credit to Tom, and just, he knows how to train these guys. He knows how to drill them and he’s very, very consistent. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He just is matter of fact, and I think there’s no doubt.”
Clements is a veteran in the coaching field, having guided quarterbacks and offenses since 1997. Rodgers specifically praised Clements for helping him develop as a young player. After Clements left Green Bay for a few years, he returned last season to the team which he’d served for a decade previously.
Since Clements was with the Packers when Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre, he has a unique perspective on how to help Love in a similar situation. Now, Love has a chance to make Clements look good in the same way that Rodgers did.
“I asked Jordan after the season how he felt about him, and he said he loved Tom, and thought he did a helluva job helping him, you know, develop over the course of the year,” LaFleur said.
By signing a one-year extension with Green Bay, Love will have two years to prove himself as the starter. It appears he is off to a good start in that regard.
