The 2023 season will be a number of firsts for new Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love, and that includes going through organized team activities as THE GUY. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Love balled out on Wednesday as he consistently connected with second-year wideout Romeo Doubs, a player head coach Matt LaFleur said in April has "some Davante Adams-type movement skills."
Love completed seven of his 10 passes in the only two-minute drill of the day with four of those completions thrown to Doubs. Two of them were in critical third-and-medium situations. One of Love's three incompletions was a spike to stop a running clock. To be fair to the Green Bay defense, the Wednesday OTA practice was shorts and jerseys without pads, and the defense was without starting cornerbacks Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Keisean Nixon. Still, the Love-Doubs chemistry is a positive Green Bay can build upon.
"I'm just making sure I'll be there for him," Doubs said, per the Green Bay Press Gazette, after the practice. "That's my biggest phrase right now. As long as I'm there for him, I feel like everything else will take care of itself."
Doubs, who traveled out to California earlier this offseason to work out with Love, hauled in a touchdown in the prior OTA session in which media could observe, making himself available after executing on an out-route.
"It's good to see him pick up where he was at, at one time, and very encouraged by his progress and just his overall knowledge," LaFleur said Wednesday. "You can tell he feels comfortable. I think really all the guys who were a part of it last year as rookies, it's amazing how far they've come up to this point."
Another player the Packers are amazed by right now is rookie tight end Luke Musgrave, Green Bay's first of two second-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. He secured perhaps Love's best throw of the day, a 20-yard laser the quarterback threaded over the middle and past coverage from safety Tarvarius Moore, a free agent signee this offseason.
Musgrave's athleticism -- a 4.61 40-yard dash, with a domineering build of 6-foot-6, 253 pounds -- has the Packers coaching staff drooling.
"He is different," LaFleur said.
The head coach, however, said Musgrave's football intelligence is the primary reason why he has earned many early opportunities with the offensive starters. Not repeating mistakes and executing concepts learned quickly in meetings on top of the eye-popping physique has the rookie in the team's good graces early.
"He does have an elite trait, that he can flat fly," LaFleur said. "And he's a big, long target. So we're very excited about him and the progress he's made up to this point, and we've got to continue to push him."
It's early yet, but Love's and his young supporting cast's ability to grow together is paying dividends in the Packers' offseason program.
