Jordan Love made his QB1 debut in the Green Bay Packers' preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The early returns are quite positive.
Will he, or won't he (be good)? That is the question that has surrounded Jordan Love all offseason as he gears up to replace Aaron Rodgers as QB1 with the Green Bay Packers. While expectations are unavoidably high for any player who follows up a legend, Love has been a particularly strong attention magnet in advance of the regular season.
Love has kept his head down and put in the work, but media members and fans alike have rabidly speculated about his NFL readiness all the same. The Packers unveiled their new QB1 to the world in Friday's preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
It's safe to say the early returns are extremely positive.
Love led a first quarter procession down the field, completing 7-of-10 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown. He served up the Packers' first points of the season with a beautiful dime to a fading Romeo Doubs. The pass was dropped perfectly in the basket, where only his receiver could get to it. Textbook.
NFL Twitter reacts to Jordan Love's impressive preseason debut as Green Bay Packers QB1
As expected, the NFL fanbase was ready to react to Love's debut, positive or negative. Green Bay fans will be thrilled to see which side of the spectrum the initial reviews landed on. If you hear a sonic boom outside your window tonight, that's probably the Jordan Love hype train.
Preseason games generally mean next to nothing, but it's nice to have football back — and with it, the traditional wave of completely irrational but extremely passionate reactions from fandoms all over the country. Green Bay fans will take this Love debut and run with it. This is enough optimism to sustain them until Week One, at the very least.
The Packers, who have two preseason games left on the docket, will presumably keep Love out of harm's way in the immediate future. Green Bay opens the regular season on the road against Justin Fields and the arch-rival Chicago Bears on Sept. 10. That will mark Love's first full game under center as QB1. If he can translate this performance to a game that counts, then Green Bay fans may just faint with excitement.
