Packers: Jordan Love will Start, Aaron Rodgers on Reserve/COVID List

Earlier in the season, Malik Taylor and Tyler Lancaster spent time on the reserve/COVID list. More recently, the Green Bay Packers were without Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, and Joe Barry for the same reasons against Arizona.

Then on Monday, quarterback Kurt Benkert would test positive, and we just learned that Aaron Rodgers has as well per Tom Pelissero.

According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garofolo, Rodgers is unvaccinated and will be out a minimum of 10 days—although Rodgers did tell reporters he was “immunized” prior to the season.

We will have to wait and see what that all means, but regardless, Jordan Love will make his first NFL start on Sunday for the Green Bay Packers.

Love appeared in two preseason games for the Green Bay Packers, completing 24 of his 35 attempts for 271 yards and 7.7 yards per attempt. He had one touchdown and one interception, according to PFF ($$).

During the team’s Week 1 blowout loss to New Orleans, Love had seven pass attempts, completing five of them for 68 yards in mop-up duty.

While there was hesitation at times and a few throws he would like to have back, overall, Love looked good during the preseason and there were several positive takeaways from what we saw.

Love would command the huddle well, he was fairly calm in the pocket, was able to extend plays when needed, we saw him go through his progressions, and his footwork was rhythmic as well. The last two items, in particular, have been areas of emphasis for Love.

Matt LaFleur and Nathaniel Hackett would both note how much more comfortable he looked in Year 2.

Following his preseason debut against Houston, one area of emphasis that Hackett wanted Love to work on — and something worth monitoring on Sunday — was that he wanted to see Love let it rip more:

"“If there’s one thing to just encourage him to continue to do is ‘Hey man, you’ve got to let that sucker rip,’ said LaFleur following the Houston game via NFL.com. ‘When you see it, trust what you see. Don’t worry about being perfect. Don’t worry about throwing a perfect, on-target pass. Usually when you do that, you’re not as accurate. You’ve got to let the ball go.’ But by and large, I think he did a really nice job.”"

Love will be making his debut in a very difficult road environment and against a Chiefs team that has sputtered at the start of the season but can still put up points at the flip of a switch.

Much like against Arizona, the Green Bay defense will have to keep this a low-scoring affair—getting into a shootout is not going to be the Packers’ path to victory.

But Love will have the run game to lean on, as Green Bay faces a Kansas City defense that is allowing 4.8 yards per rush, the sixth most this season. As a unit, the Chiefs defense is allowing 27.9 points per game, the eighth most.

Hopefully, Love will also have Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and David Bakhtiari back in the mix—but that remains to be seen at this point.

Love’s first start isn’t going to happen in the fashion that we wanted or expected, but it’s happening as long as he can stay healthy. It’s going to come against a talented team and in a tough environment, but as they say, it’s the next man up.

Green Bay has been able to overcome several injuries and COVID-related issues so far this season, now it’s time to see what Love can do.

"“I think he’s excited about the opportunity and I think he’ll prepare the right way and give it everything he has,” LaFleur said via Packers Wire."