The Green Bay Packers took a risk with what is ostensibly a Super Bowl-caliber roster by not bringing in a veteran backup quarterback behind Jordan Love and just one game into the season, they are already paying for it.
Love appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury with just seconds remaining left in the opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. When reporters asked Packers head coach Matt LaFleur about the severity of his starting quarterback’s injury following the game, he issued a three-word message of uncertainty.
“I don’t know,” LaFleur responded, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Backup QB Malik Willis, who Green Bay acquired from the Tennessee Titans via trade on August 26, played two plays to finish the game — one an incomplete pass and the other a sack on an attempted Hail Mary with the Packers trailing by five points. The only other quarterback in the Packers organization is Sean Clifford, who is currently residing on the practice squad.
While Clifford has experience with the offense, the team went with Willis as its No. 2 option to begin the year. That shows a willingness to hand over the keys to a QB with minimal knowledge of the scheme.
The circumstances under center in Green Bay render former Pro Bowl free agent Ryan Tannehill a good fit. He played with Willis in Tennessee and maintained his starting job before ultimately losing it to Will Levis during the final year of his $118 million contract in 2023.
Ryan Tannehill to Packers Floated by Analysts in Preseason
GettyFormer Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Multiple Packers reporters and analysts floated Tannehill as an option during the preseason when watching Clifford struggle during practice sessions.
Andy Herman of Packer Report mentioned Green Bay adding Tannehill in an X post on July 24.
“We may need to have a Ryan Tannehill conversation,” Herman wrote. “I fully get and understand the [Indianapolis] Colts/Peyton Manning mantra of ‘we don’t practice [expletive],’ but the offense is a nightmare right now without Love. To be fair, it’s still insanely early and these are young QBs.”
Ryan Tannehill Can Help Packers Keep Postseason Goals Alive if Jordan Love Out for Extended Stretch
GettyQuarterback Malik Willis of the Green Bay Packers.
Willis hasn’t yet gotten the fair shake he probably deserves, though the Packers may not be able to take the chance depending on Love’s prognosis.
Severe ankle sprains, if that is the extent of Love’s injury, tend to take between four and six weeks to fully heal. Green Bay’s schedule isn’t overly difficult across the next month with games against the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings at home in Weeks 2 and 4, as well as road contests against the Titans and Los Angeles Rams in Weeks 3 and 5.
Back-to-back home matchups with the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans in Weeks 6 and 7 round out the six-week stretch.
However, that run of the schedule is far more precarious without Love for any significant portion of it, which could derail Green Bay’s postseason hopes. Tannehill has playoff experience, leading the Titans there in three consecutive years between 2019-21, including to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
For his career, Tannehill has tallied almost 35,000 passing yards, 216 TDs and 115 INTS in 155 games and 151 starts, per Pro Football Reference.