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Rob Demowski
GREEN BAY, Wis.—One of the few bright spots even green Bay Packers‘Performance in Saturday night’s defeat Baltimore Ravens It ended tragically.
backup quarterback malik williswho started because jordan love He did not follow concussion protocols, having to leave in the fourth quarter due to pain in his right shoulder during one of his finest performances as a professional. Willis was able to return after briefly checking out the locker room, but the game was almost over for the Packers. lost 41-24,
Green Bay has to decide who will play quarterback in next weekend’s regular season finale minnesota vikingsThe Packers have already secured their playoff spot and cannot improve their position – as soon as they lost to the Ravens, they were locked into the NFC’s No, 7 seed – and Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur was non-committal about his approach for Week 18,
Should the Packers focus on staying as healthy as possible heading into the playoffs or regaining some momentum after three straight losses?
“We just want to get him through the protocols,” LaFleur said of Love, who suffered a concussion last week. Chicago Bears“And then we have to make a decision,”
one night when derrick henry Rushing for 216 yards and the Ravens finishing with 307 rushing yards, Willis was one of the few bright spots for the home team.
With 7:53 remaining and before leaving midway through the drive, Willis completed 18 of 21 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for two touchdowns on read-option plays as part of a nine-carry, 60-yard rushing performance.
LaFleur showed so much confidence in Willis that he initiated the passing game and allowed his backups to throw deep. Willis completed six of his seven passes that covered 20 or more yards in the air, tying aaron rodgers Most completions of more than 20 air yards by a Packers quarterback since ESPN began game tracking in 2006.
“I thought it was great that he trusted me enough to give me a chance,” Willis said.
Leading up to Saturday’s game, Willis barely took any reps in practice. Love received the lion’s share of starting quarterback reps as he was on track to clear the concussion protocol. Willis did not practice a day due to illness affecting most of the team’s players. He injured his shoulder last week in relief of Love against the Bears.
With the Packers trailing 34-24 and entering Ravens territory Saturday night, Willis grabbed his right shoulder after a completion. Christian Watson (Five catches, 113 yards, TD). After two plays, practice squad quarterback clayton tune threw a pass that went Bo Melton‘s hand and was stopped.
Willis’ future is unlikely to be in Green Bay. He will be a free agent in the offseason and will likely get a chance to compete for a starting job elsewhere. But in that moment, he wished he could have finished Saturday’s game.
“I think we just have to continue to play ball and take it one week at a time,” Willis said. “Hopefully, after watching this tape and understanding what went wrong, we can come out with a ‘W’ next week, and we can worry about all those things in the postseason.”
