GREEN BAY, Wis. — Matt LaFleur said he has not decided how he will handle a regular-season finale that won’t change playoff positioning, but the Green Bay Packers coach made it clear Sunday that there is no quarterback controversy on his team.
Malik Willis, one of the few bright spots in Saturday’s 41-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, will return to his backup role when starting quarterback Jordan Love clears concussion protocol. That could be as soon as next weekend if LaFleur decides to play all of his starters in Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings.
“I want to pump the breaks on all that stuff,” LaFleur said. “I think Jordan Love is playing some pretty high-level football, and it’s great that we feel the same about Malik in his ability to go in there. I thought he’s had two really back-to-back outstanding performances. So we’re in a good spot with that position, certainly have a lot of confidence in both of those guys, but it’s clear that Jordan is our franchise quarterback, and when he is healthy, he’s going to be our starter. So, just want to squash all that.”
Willis completed 18 of 21 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran nine times for 60 yards and two TDs despite missing part of the fourth quarter to get his ailing right shoulder checked out. LaFleur said he anticipates that Willis will be fine to play against the Vikings if he decides to hold out Love or if Love doesn’t clear the concussion protocol. Love sustained a concussion in Week 16 against the Bears.
Players were at Lambeau Field on Sunday for meetings, but LaFleur said Love did not go through any additional testing. That will happen later in the week.
The Packers are locked into the No. 7 seed and will be on the road to open the playoffs, but the health of his team and how badly the defense performed against Baltimore — allowing Derrick Henry to rush for 216 yards and the Ravens to rush for 307 as a team — also could factor into whether LaFleur plays all of his starters against the Vikings.
“What was probably the most disappointing thing after watching the tape is just how many times we weren’t playing the right technique or just in the right position to make a play,” LaFleur said of the run defense.
It was only the second time since 1978 that the Packers had allowed more than 300 yards rushing in a game.
A defense that already was without Micah Parsons (knee) and Devonte Wyatt (ankle) because of season-ending injuries lost two more players against the Ravens. LaFleur said defensive tackle Jordon Riley (Achilles) and cornerback Kamal Hadden (ankle) suffered season-ending injuries.
“Regardless of anything, whether you rest certain individuals you’re kind of limited, especially our situation right now with the number of injuries that occurred,” LaFleur said. “Guys are going to have to play ball. They better approach it in such a way that they’re getting their mind ready to go play ball.”