Washington (AFP) – Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love is expected to miss three to six weeks with a left knee injury suffered in the Packers’ season-opening loss to Philadelphia, according to reports Saturday. Love was hurt in the dying seconds of Green Bay’s 34-29 defeat on Friday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the NFL’s first regular-season game in South America.
NFL Network and ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said exams on Love made after the team returned home on Saturday showed he sprained his left MCL trying to drive the Packers to a winning touchdown in the final minute. The NFL Network reported that the expected recovery timeline for Love was three to six weeks, with ESPN indicating that the Packers hoped he would miss only three to four weeks. There was concern that Love might be lost for the season with the injury after he was helped off the field and into the locker room following the final drive of the game.
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The Packers play their home opener on September 15 against the Indianapolis Colts. Love, 25, threw for 260 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against the Eagles in the opener after throwing for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns with 11 interceptions last season, when the Packers reached the second round of the NFL playoffs. He was rewarded in July with a four-year contract worth $220 million with the Packers that made him the NFL’s highest-paid player.
Malik Willis, who threw an incompletion and was sacked on the final two plays in place of Love, is the next quarterback on the depth chart. He was obtained in a trade with Tennessee less than two weeks before the opener after backups Sean Clifford and rookie Michael Pratt struggled in preseason games. Willis has made three starts in 12 NFL appearances, throwing for 350 yards with three interceptions.
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