Love gets a second chance against safety Mathieu
GREEN BAY − Jordan Love's first start in the NFL was baptism by fire. The Green Bay Packers then-second-year quarterback found out he was starting on short notice, and had to go to Kansas City to face the perennial powerhouse Chiefs and their raucous crowd.
Not only that, but the young passer had to face a defense that featured three Pro Bowlers. One of those was safety Tyrann Mathieu.
“Thinking back to the Kansas City game,” Love said Wednesday, “(Mathieu) did a good amount of disguising, and he did that really well. Just disguising looks, mixing it up. So that was my first kind of taste of that, seeing that.”
Love will face Mathieu again Sunday. The safety, now with his hometown New Orleans Saints, comes to Green Bay for Love's first start in Lambeau Field.
“He's a vet, he's been around, seen a lot of ball, he knows what he's doing and he knows how to disguise stuff,” Love said.
As a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dontayvion Wicks has been familiar with Mathieu since the former was a child. At 9 years old, Wicks watched Mathieu take over LSU's defense as the “Honey Badger” before going on to play for the Arizona Cardinals, the Chiefs and now the Saints.
Wicks has become a factor in the Packers passing game the past two weeks with Christian Watson nursing a hamstring injury. On Sunday, in the rookie's first game at Lambeau, he's determined not to think about who he's playing against.
“Faceless,” Wicks said of Mathieu. “After the game I think will be a good time for that. But a faceless opponent from the start of the game through the end of the game … I gotta do what I gotta do to keep him from having a good game against us.
“I think all around he's a good player. We all know that. He crashes down hard. Wants to tackle. He also can ball, so we gotta keep him away, keep ourselves in between him and the ball, and win our routes going against him.”
The Packers spent more time talking about Mathieu this week simply because there was so little known about the Saints' other safety. Starter Marcus Maye was suspended Wednesday for three games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy following a DUI in 2021. His replacement, according to the Saints depth chart, will be rookie Jordan Howden.
“That'll be a huge impact for them,”
Love said. “I haven't really gotten too much into who the backup is and how he's played. I think, just for them, it'll be next man up. So we just have to go see who the backup is and study him a little bit.”
If the Packers offense chooses to attack the sides more, they'll have to deal with corners Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore, a four-time Pro Bowler who will be a test for a young Packers receiving corps.
“He does some really good things on the outside,” Love said. “So just being able to fight through contact and win on him a couple times is key. I've seen other teams maybe shy away from throwing at him. So I think it's just a test for receivers to be able to go and attack him and win, but he's a really good corner.”
Through two weeks, Love is leading the NFL in passer rating and touchdown-to-interception ratio, and is tied with Kirk Cousins for most touchdowns (6). On Sunday, he'll get a chance to throw his first touchdown in Lambeau Field, against a defense peppered with Pro Bowl veterans and unproven rookies.
“I think they do what they do, and they stick to it,” Love said, “they don't do a whole lot of crazy stuff. They have some really good pressure packages on third down, but I think they got a good front that gets a lot of pressure home just before.
“They play some good coverages, some sticky coverages on the back end, and it really challenged receivers. They do a good job pressing and get hands on and just kind of throwing off timing. So I think that's what they do. And they do a really good job of doing that, and just stay consistent with what they do.”