‘I think he’ll be a great player’ — How Packers’ Jordan Love impressed Bengals in joint practice

CINCINNATI — To many around Field 3 at the Cincinnati Bengals‘ training complex, it was Jordan Love’s worst throw of the day. The Green Bay Packers‘ quarterback tried a screen to receiver Romeo Doubs in the left flat only to see Bengals nickel cornerback Mike Hilton jump it for an interception that, if this had been a game, might have turned into a 95-yard return for a touchdown.

But to Hilton, it told him something about Love.

“He read it right,” Hilton said after the joint practice that led into Friday’s preseason opener at Paycor Stadium. “It’s just, I’m seven years in, and it’s just knowing the league and knowing plays.”

What Hilton meant was that the quarterback saw a favorable matchup. Love had Doubs plus two blockers out to his left, and the only Bengals defender near the line of scrimmage was Hilton.

“I saw him check,” Hilton said. “He actually saw he had numbers. It was pretty much 3-on-1. My corner was about 7 yards behind. Most quarterbacks are going to take that throw. I realized it, and I just split [the blockers] and made a play.”

For most of the Bengals’ defenders, it was their first up-close look at Love. The two teams have played only once since Love was drafted in 2020, and, of course, Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback on that day in 2021.

“I thought he was solid, to be honest,” Cincinnati linebacker Germaine Pratt said. “I didn’t really know what to expect because I was always thinking of A-Rod, but I think he’s solid. He did some great things to me.”

Love and the Packers’ offense went head-to-head with the Bengals’ starting defense — one that held opposing quarterbacks to the second-lowest Total QBR in the NFL last season — in both 7-on-7 and full-team 11-on-11 periods during the lone joint practice.

He completed 17 of 29 passes in the 11-on-11 periods with two touchdowns — a 50-yard bomb to Doubs and a 15-yard crosser to Christian Watson. He also tear-dropped a fade to fullback Henry Pearson for a gain of 20-plus yards down the right sideline. His only turnover was Hilton’s interception, but that might have been enough to ruin a real game.

Love’s turn in the 2-minute drill ended with a missed 60-yard field goal, but a dropped deep ball by Doubs didn’t help. Love also was the victim of several drops in the 7-on-7 periods.

“I think his timing was good,” Pratt said. “He threw some accurate balls. He threw a good deep ball that I saw. Then he threw a dart on a dart play, and then his no-look pass in the [7-on-7] period was a dart, too, but it hit the tight end [Luke Musgrave] in the chest. That was a good pass, but I think he’ll be a great player, to be honest. He learned from A-Rod, now he gets the keys to run the system.”

No one had a better vantage point to see how Love operated than Bengals defensive tackle DJ Reader.

“I’m right over him,” Reader said. “So I see it.”

And he’s not talking about arm strength, throwing angles or footwork — the kinds of things offensive coaches preach.

“I can’t tell you if he can throw the ball or any of that stuff,” Reader said. “I thought he did a good job making his checks, going through his reads, kind of seeing what we were in and thinking about it, taking his time. It didn’t seem like a panic back there. Even his ‘can’ calls [when he changes the play], he knew what he was going to do. It was good.

“I thought he did a good job just going through his reads, commanding the offense, getting them in and out of the huddle. I could hear his calls, so he was pretty precise in the huddle.”

That the Bengals run a similar offense — Packers coach Matt LaFleur and Bengals coach Zac Taylor come from the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay system — and have one of the league’s top quarterbacks in Joe Burrow running it when healthy, gave the defensive players a baseline for what it’s supposed to look like, especially when it comes to changing plays.

It was clear to Pratt that Love paid attention to how Rodgers ran it.

“When he comes to the line making checks, he’s similar,” he said. “You being with a Hall of Fame quarterback, why not steal some of his game? I would do that. If there’s a Hall of Famer, I’m going to steal some of his game and apply it to mine.”

None of this, of course, guarantees anything when Week 1 rolls around.

Love’s challenge isn’t just mastering the art of quarterback play. It’s doing it in the long shadow of Rodgers, the four-time NFL MVP who gave the Packers another 15 years of elite quarterback play after Brett Favre did the same.

If anyone knows what Love is going through in that regard, it’s Bengals backup quarterback Trevor Siemian. He replaced Hall of Famer Peyton Manning in Denver, and what may have made it tougher was the Broncos were coming of their win in Super Bowl 50.

“Obviously it was a long time ago, but it was easy for me,” said Siemian, who lasted a season and a half as the Broncos’ starter. “I wasn’t trying to be Peyton Manning; I had no shot at doing that. I was fortunate to be around some really good coaches and a good team. So for me, it was easy. I wasn’t trying to be Peyton.”

Siemian’s advice for Love came from his own experience.

“Don’t try to be Aaron,” he said. “Be Jordan. Be the best version of Jordan he can be. It seems like he’s doing that. I haven’t paid attention much but heard good things. I’m pulling for him.”