Jordan Love's next step relies on getting back to basics for the Packers

The Packers need their quarterback to be playing fundamentally sound and now that he's healthy he can. On Love's search for a key this year: balance.

Jordan Love wants balance. When he got married this summer, he sat his long-time quarterback coach, Steve Calhoun, at the same table as Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. Over the years, LaFleur, Love, and Calhoun would develop offseason plans for the nascent franchise quarterback, honing his skills for specific elements of the offense. Sure, this was a bit of work/life balance, his wedding bringing together arguably the two most important people in his professional life, but it was also about his literal balance in the pocket.

Last year, when MCL and groin injuries robbed Love of a sturdy base, some of his inconsistencies with footwork and fundamentals worsened.

Calhoun laments the time quarterbacks have during the season to rep them. Frankly, there’s not enough of it between getting in all the practice work that needs to be done with the team, the film study, and more. This offseason, Calhoun watched film with Love, and they built workouts around areas where Love was inconsistent.

“It’s a feet thing,” Calhoun tells The Leap.

“I’m always working with Jordan about balance: come to balance. Because when he’s balanced, he can knock the wing off a butterfly.”

This had the dual benefit of Love being able to see the issue on film and providing Calhoun a tangible example to draw from when designing the workouts.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated this week, Love cited a throw from the end of the Texans game where he left the ball too far inside on what he says should have been a walk-off touchdown. He told Albert Breer he was repping throws outside the numbers to his left, a level of detail that underscores how far Love has come.

“I’m always working with Jordan about balance: come to balance. Because when he’s balanced, he can knock the wing off a butterfly.” — Steve Calhoun on Jordan Love

“You don’t want to have too many things, coach gives you so much to work on—Well, which one do I focus on?” Love told SI.

“They’ve done a great job coaching-wise of giving me different things to work on, and we can attack that thing, and once you get good at that, get more consistent at that, now it’s, what’s the next thing to focus on?”

One play Love called out specifically was the should-have-been game-winner to Dontayvion Wicks against the Houston Texans. It’s a pressure look he identified before the snap. The Packers had the perfect call, and if Love can float the ball to the middle of the field and let Wicks run under it, it’s a potential touchdown.