The Green Bay Packers gave Jordan Love his wish this offseason, but the fulfilled request came with a demand for their young quarterback.
The Packers went 22 years without selecting a wide receiver in the first round of an NFL draft. In April, the Packers selected Matthew Golden with the No. 23 pick. Two rounds later, Green Bay gave Love extra help at receiver when they added Savion Williams at No. 87.
In between those picks, the Packers selected offensive tackle Anthony Belton in the second round, waiting until Day 3 to take a defensive player (DL Barryn Sorrell).
The Green Bay Packers gave Jordan Love a homework assignment
The Golden selection came with an added responsibility for Love. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, head coach Matt LaFleur FaceTimed Love on draft night to let the quarterback know he had some extra homework to do this offseason.
“You always want to kind of connect with the quarterback when you give him some pieces, so I Facetimed him and he’s like, ‘Man, sub-4.3 … I gotta get that arm loose,’ ” LaFleur said. “So he can roll, and I said, ‘Hey, man, you’re just going to have to get that ball up on time and out early.’ ”
Matthew Golden will test Love’s arm
Love took LaFleur’s request to heart, immediately watching highlights of Golden during his time with the Texas Longhorns.
Like with his head coach (and presumably the front office that pulled the trigger on drafting Golden), Love was impressed with the speed of the six-foot, 190-pound receiver.
“The speed speaks for itself,” Love said. “Running a 40-yard dash, any time you get a 4.2, that’s some blazing speed right there, so I’m excited to see how fast he is on the field. I’ve seen all the highlights, all the good stuff, so we’ll see once we get practice rolling and everything how good he is.”
Practice starts rolling for the Packers during OTAs this week. Golden has already done some work practicing for Green Bay during rookie minicamp, but this will be his first opportunity to work with Love at practice.
How much chemistry Golden and Love can build this spring and summer could determine how potent the offense is this fall. Green Bay isn’t sure when Christian Watson will be 100% as he heals from a knee injury ( anterior cruciate ligament) he suffered in Week 18.
