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Rob Demovsky
Jordan Love is undergoing surgery Tuesday to repair a ligament injury to his left thumb, but the Green Bay Packers expect the star quarterback to be ready for their season opener.
Love, who had his left thumb taped during Monday’s practice, tried to play through the injury before ultimately deciding to have the procedure.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said Tuesday that Love could return to practice as early as next week, adding that the procedure was “the best option to him getting back the fastest and feeling the best.”
Gutekunst said Love suffered the injury during Saturday’s preseason opener against the New York Jets. It happened on Love’s last play, when he was sacked by Jets defensive tackle Jay Tufele.
Love played two series in the game. He did not appear to be limited in practice Monday but had to use his right (throwing) hand to hand off on plays where ordinarily he would have used his left.
“Obviously, you guys saw him out there, he certainly was able to function,” Gutekunst said. “But as we looked at all the options and he did as well, the best option I think for him to get back the fastest and feel the best was to do this. He wanted to go out there yesterday to kind of see how it felt, and once we got through that, we made the decision.”
Gutekunst added that Love will be ready for Week 1 against the NFC North rival Detroit Lions on Sept. 7.
“We’ll get him back in plenty of time,” Gutekunst said. “I don’t foresee this affecting him long term at all.”
The Packers have a joint practice at the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday before Saturday’s preseason game. The plan going into the preseason was for Love and some starters to practice but not play in the game against the Colts, and then play in the preseason finale against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 23.
Gutekunst said Love was expected to meet the team Wednesday in Indianapolis.
While an injury to Love’s non-throwing hand should not impact the Packers’ passing game, coach Matt LaFleur had other concerns about ways it could hinder his quarterback.
“Well only if it limits you in your ability to go out there and perform the task at hand — no pun intended there,” LaFleur said Tuesday. “From what I’ve been understanding that it’s a pretty relatively quick recovery, so hopefully we’ll be able to get him back out in some capacity some time next week to work on and work through — because I’ve never personally dealt with a situation like this. So there’s going to be some learning curve along the way in terms of how do we adapt and how do we adjust.”
This is the second straight year in which Love has been impacted by an injury. Last season, he sustained a sprained left MCL in the regular-season opener and missed the next two games. Malik Willis started in his place, and the Packers won both games.
Willis is again expected to take the No. 1 quarterback snaps while Love is out. The Packers also have Sean Clifford and rookie Taylor Elgersma at quarterback.
“If this team can’t handle one person being down for a couple days, then I think we’re in more trouble than worrying about what I should do,” Willis said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think we should be mentally strong enough to go out here and do what we can to execute each play that’s called, within the timing of the play, within the execution of the play and just play ball.
“It’s not a one-person game. It takes all 11 at all times. I know this position that we play gets a lot of added hype or added pressure, but it’s not really about that. It’s about going out and playing ball with all 11 working together.”
In Love’s three seasons as the starter, he has played in at least some preseason games every year. Last year, he played just one series in the first preseason game.
“It’s a tough balance, but at the same time the goals we’re trying to accomplish require work and you’ve got to play,” Gutekunst said. “I think every team’s a little bit different in that regard, but I know this particular team in my opinion needs to play and play together, so the more reps we can get I think the better. Injuries are going to happen; that’s part of this.”