Packers quarterback Jordan Love insists the all-gas approach he’s taking to playing this Sunday would be much the same even if the 3-0 Minnesota Vikings weren’t on their way to town.
Love said Wednesday after practice the Packers’ opponent adds no fuel to his fire to return for Week 4 from a knee injury he suffered in Week 1. Green Bay welcomes the undefeated Vikings to Lambeau Field with first place in the NFC North on the line Sunday.
“I’m trying to push it and I’ve been trying to get back as fast as I can no matter who the opponent was,” Love said.
Love said he felt like he was “close” to being ready last week at Tennessee. Instead, Malik Willis navigated the Packers to a second consecutive win.
Close won’t be good enough to get the green light from head coach Matt LaFleur this week. The Vikings have a league-leading 16 sacks and allowed only 30 total points in the first three games this season.
“They give you a lot of different looks, and much like we talk about the illusion of complexity where we like to give looks that are difficult on the defense, but simple for us, I feel like that’s what they do,” LaFleur said. “They have a system in place that makes it easy for their players, or easier for their players to go out there and execute. But it makes it extremely difficult on the offenses they are going against.”
Love and LaFleur credited Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores with exotic fronts and disguised coverage that amplify “headaches” for quarterbacks and playcallers alike.
“At the snap of the ball, (you’re) trying to figure out, ‘Are they bluffing (the blitz)? Are they coming?'” Love said. “It’s a challenging defense. Not going to sugarcoat it. But you’ve got to be able to go out there and play the game and find those completions and get the ball rolling.”
Minnesota can become the first team to ever record five-plus sacks in the first four games of a season. Last week, the Vikings joined the 2001 New Orleans Saints and 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the only teams since 1990 with at least five sacks in the first three games of the season.
“At the end of the day, it’s football and there’s always a risk of getting sacked or hit,” Love said. “I’ll (be) trying to get the ball out of my hands as quick as possible.”
