The Green Bay Packers might get their starting quarterback back sooner than anticipated.
Jordan Love, who injured his knee Sept. 6 during the team’s season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil, practiced on Wednesday for the first time since the injury. He could return to the lineup Sunday when Green Bay travels to Nashville to meet the winless Tennessee Titans.
However, if Love sits out again, it would set up a matchup of backup Malik Willis opposing the franchise that drafted him in the third round in 2022. Traded to the Packers last month, Willis engineered last week’s 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts, hitting 12 of 14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Willis also flashed his mobility, rushing for 41 yards on six carries, and he finished with a 126.8 passer rating — far above his career mark of 49.4 entering the game.
“Things happened,” Willis said of his new organization. “So I’m here now and grateful to coach (Matt LaFleur) and the GM and everybody who’s a part of this.”
Willis played in 11 games across parts of two seasons for Tennessee, completing 35 of 66 passes for 350 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. His time with the franchise was done from the moment coach Mike Vrabel made then-rookie Will Levis the starter last October.
Levis showed more than enough down the stretch, even though the Titans missed the playoffs, to earn the No. 1 job for this year. Now with his new team, Willis might be the quarterback tasked with getting the Packers to 2-1.
“I didn’t wake up thinking I was going to be traded,” he said after being dealt on Aug. 27. “So it definitely caught me by surprise. … It’s time to go.”
While Willis prepares in case he gets the start again, there is no question Levis is the guy in Tennessee. Still, first-year coach Brian Callahan wants to see Levis improve his decision-making, a problem area as the Titans started 0-2.
After tossing a game-changing pick-six in Tennessee’s season-opening loss at Chicago, Levis played better last week in the team’s second straight 24-17 defeat, this time to the New York Jets. He was 19 of 28 for 192 yards with a touchdown but also mixed in two turnovers.
One was an ill-advised lateral to Tony Pollard that turned a sack into a fumble that cost the Titans a chance to go up by two scores in the second quarter. The other was an interception that was cashed in for a tying touchdown just before halftime.
“I’m really pleased with how he played for the most part,” Callahan said of Levis. “I thought Will made a really nice improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.”
Look for Levis and Tennessee to get DeAndre Hopkins more involved in the passing game. Hopkins, a three-time All-Pro, caught a team-high 75 passes for 1,057 yards last year, his seventh 1,000-yard season, but has been limited to two grabs for 17 yards through this year’s first two games.
Tennessee had just one player miss the Wednesday practice due to an injury, running back Tyjae Spears (ankle). Green Bay was without four players on Wednesday: guard Elgton Jenkins (illness/glute), tackle Jordan Morgan (shoulder), wide receiver Jayden Reed (calf) and defensive back Carrington Valentine (ankle).
The Titans own an 8-6 lead in the all-time series with Green Bay, including a 3-0 mark in Nashville.
