GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers quarterback Malik Willis and wide receiver Jayden Reed met in the locker room on Wednesday and exchanged a couple words before going their separate ways. Ahead of Willis’ likely start Sunday against the Colts in place of the injured Jordan Love, Reed wants to get in the same extra work with Willis that he and others put in with Love last season.
“That’s very important, being on the same page with the guys you’re throwing to,” Reed said. “So I was talking to him, just little things maybe about getting the guys together, just watching the tape for 30 minutes, watching our opponent so we’re on the same page from that standpoint.”
Reed, who leads the NFL in receiving yards after Week 1 and scored two touchdowns in Brazil against the Eagles, said he was on the same page with Willis two days into the quarterback’s Packers tenure. Willis arrived in Green Bay on Aug. 27 after the Packers traded a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Titans for him. Reed’s first thought when he saw Willis play? That he could spin it.
There’s a reason, though, that Willis was worth only a seventh-round pick, that he lost the backup job in Tennessee this summer to Mason Rudolph and that he’s only started three games since the Titans made him a third-round pick in 2022. Maybe Reed saw him throw a quick and tight spiral, but helping keep the Packers’ season afloat while Love is sidelined is a different animal.
“That’s the only way you get better is reps and live game reps would definitely be a different feel,” Willis said. “At this point, I’ve only played three games and I was a rookie. Call it what you want to … I wasn’t ready yet, but I had to go in and I’m a different player than then, but control what you can control. It’s not about what you know. It’s about what you can prove on the field.”
Malik Willis: “Just making sure that whenever my number’s called, I’m ready. Whether Jordan can go or he can’t, just try to be ready.”
Willis later on Love: “He’s getting his mental reps. He’s preparing to play. We’re just preparing ourselves if he can’t go.” pic.twitter.com/VZ6LFld1yU
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) September 11, 2024
What we know about Willis even without substantial regular-season tape is the Packers think he can make plays with both his legs and his right arm and improved this summer in Tennessee playing from the pocket. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s Week 2 task — and maybe Weeks 3 and 4 — is to devise a game plan that fits Willis’ strengths. That might be one that doesn’t require him to air it out too much, gives him easy completions to earn the defense’s respect, opens up lanes for running back Josh Jacobs and gets Willis on the move to take advantage of his mobility and test the Colts horizontally.
Willis wouldn’t divulge his “very detailed schedule” of preparing for Sunday but said his preparation has been “a little bit in overdrive” and “around the clock” since he arrived in Green Bay.
“I thought he did a great job in his three weeks, which feels like three months that he’s been here, just kind of going through it, just being dialed in, knowing the details of why we’re trying to get things called and showing him the necessary clips to get him prepared, to get him confident,” LaFleur said. “And now it’s about going out there and doing it.”
The Packers are still leaving the door open for Love to start Sunday; however, that seems unrealistic. LaFleur wouldn’t rule Love out when he spoke on Monday and was asked again Wednesday if the door is still open for Love to return just 10 days after his injury on the third-to-last play of the season opener.
“I’d say it’s pretty open,” LaFleur said, adding, “He’s doing a nice job. He’s spending a lot of time in the training room. Our guys have done a great job with him … all our athletic trainers, the strength staff, but at the same time, like I told you guys, he’s got to be cleared. We’ve got to feel like he can protect himself and he’s got to be confident enough to go out there and do that. Until that happens, we are not even going to think about that.”
Love was the only DNP at practice on Wednesday and wasn’t present during the portion open to reporters. Willis said that Love came out to practice later, however, and is getting mental reps while sidelined.
“He’s preparing to play … and we’re just preparing ourselves if he can’t go,” Willis said. “That’s the reality of this league, so we just have to continue to utilize these reps and be ready to go if called upon … I’m just trying to put in as much time as I need to feel comfortable and just make sure that whenever my number is called, I’m ready. Whether Jordan can go or he can’t, just try to be ready regardless because even if he can go, I have to be ready, just as last week.”
Jordan Love is the only player on the 53 not practicing today.
Here’s QB1 Malik Willis to Romeo Doubs⬇️ pic.twitter.com/p9AK9Ap7gb
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) September 11, 2024
Those who fall for the Packers’ bait that Love might play against the Colts will likely feel foolish an hour and a half before Sunday’s kickoff when inactives come out. You have to respect the attempt to make the Colts prepare for two quarterbacks instead of just Willis, though, even if there’s minimal chance of it working. Love’s mental reps at practice will likely come in handy more next weekend in Tennessee or the weekend after against the Vikings at Lambeau Field, but in the meantime, he’s been a valuable asset in getting Willis up to speed.
Willis doesn’t have to carry the Packers on his shoulders like Love has proven capable of doing. With a wisely constructed game plan by LaFleur, implosion-free football by Willis and sufficient complementary action from the defense, running game and special teams, maybe Willis taking the reins for however long Love is out won’t be as catastrophic as it seems on the surface.
And maybe time, a change in scenery and an opportunity is all Willis needs to prove he still belongs.
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“You can tell he’s taking everything in stride and learning as much as he possibly can right now, doing everything he can,” center Josh Myers said. “I really respect that. You can definitely see the talent there, man. He can move around. He can throw the ball. Some good stuff from him, for sure.”
(Photo: Ben Liebenberg / Associated Press)
