Jordan Love Camp Update — August 31: He Called the Second Half of the Finale
2026 NFL Season · Monday, Aug 31
Jordan Love didn't play Friday's finale — LaFleur handed him second-half play-calling instead, in a forty-two to thirty-eight win. By Sunday the roster around him had moved hard: McCord traded, a two-man quarterback room, Jacobs to the exempt list, and a rebuilt backfield.
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Jordan Love's last act of the preseason was calling plays, not running them. Head coach Matt LaFleur handed Love the second-half play-calling in Friday's finale against Arizona and praised him as "calm, cool and collected" while he orchestrated the comeback in a 42 to 38 win, per Mike Spofford at packers.com. It is one anecdote with one quote — a note about trust, not evidence about his football. The quarterback who played every snap of that game, Kyle McCord, went 22 of 35 for 226 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, per Spofford — and by Sunday he was traded to Miami for a sixth-round pick in the 20 28 draft, per Justis Mosqueda at Acme Packing Company. Green Bay's quarterback room on the initial 53 is two men, Love and Tyrod Taylor, per Wes Hodkiewicz at packers.com, and the pick from Miami went to Pittsburgh the same day for running back Kaleb Johnson, per Spofford.
Love's own competitive week came Wednesday, at the joint practice with Arizona: he opened eight-for-10 with a 45-yard touchdown to Matthew Golden, then said of the session's late fade, "That was the kind of lowest point of the day was just the finish," per Hodkiewicz.
Around him, the roster moved hard in a single week. Josh Jacobs went to the Commissioner's Exempt List — barred from practice and play, indefinitely, per Kevin Patra at NFL.com — and the backfield is now Chris Brooks, MarShawn Lloyd and Johnson, who is pending a physical, per Hodkiewicz. Tenth-year tight end Jonnu Smith was signed Saturday, per packers.com; Tucker Kraft took full participation Wednesday, per Hodkiewicz, and made the roster with no designation; Luke Musgrave went to reserve/PUP for at least four games, per Evan Siegle at packers.com; the receiver room was cut to six with Savion Williams to injured reserve, per Hodkiewicz and Siegle.
Our last episode asked three things, and all three now have answers. Love did not play the finale — his August game action closed at one series in Denver. Kraft is practicing without restriction and on the 53. Jacobs is not practicing at all. One correction to that episode: it grouped Jacobs and left guard Aaron Banks as parallel returns to practice; Banks is on the 53 at left guard, per Bill Huber at Packers On SI, while Jacobs is listed apart from the 53, on the exempt list, per Hodkiewicz. The June preview argued Love's ceiling this season turns less on Love than on his environment — Kraft's knee, Golden's second year, a settled receiver room. All three moved his way this week: Kraft took full participation, Golden caught the practice week's headline throw, and the receiver room settled at six. What that preview did not price in was the backfield, which unsettled itself on cut day. We'll check in again as the opener takes shape.
_Data via nflverse._
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