OutKick Medical Expert Dr. David Chao Explains Why He Doubts Jordan Love Plays This Week
Jordan Love was back at practice with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, his second consecutive day working in drills not even two weeks into what was supposed to be a three-to-four week MCL injury to his left knee.
Or maybe not.
LOS ANGELES - (L-R) SiriusXM host Pat Kirwan, Dr. David Chao and SiriusXM host Jim Miller speak during an interview on day 1 of SiriusXM at Super Bowl LVI on February 9, 2022. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Dr. Chao Thinking Love Next Week
"Is it possible that he plays?" Dr. David Chao, OutKick's medical expert, said Thursday morning. "I don't believe he will, but this is where things get tricky."
Dr. Chao thinks Love plays next week against the Vikings instead.
The question whether Love plays or not must weigh a lot of factors. Obviously, Love's improvement through the current week of practice is key and that won't be fully known until Saturday morning.
But because Dr. Chao, the founder of Sports Injury Central, worked in the NFL as the team doctor for the San Diego Chargers for over 17 years, he knows the reputations of the NFL's teams.
He has a lot of respect for the Packers' medical staff. And he knows they typically take a conservative approach to exposing players to game action when the players clearly are not fully healthy.
"That's not bad," Dr. Chao said. "Their philosophy is historically do no harm."
Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love throws the ball vs. the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
Other Factors At Play In Love Decision
Dr. Chao believes that some players, particularly quarterbacks, can come out of the lineup and the team simply moves forward. It might even be a good moment for the player to sit.
Love is definitely not in that category. So the Packers must weigh both the risk and reward of potentially playing Love.
"The question will be does a 75 percent Jordan Love play with a knee brace like a lot of quarterbacks have?" Dr. Chao said. "Is it possible for Jordan Love to say, ‘I’m good, I'm good,' and the Packers decide we'll keep you in the pocket, we won't have boots and modify our game plan."
And then that game plan still feels somewhat better to the organization than a 100 percent Malik Willis?
That's possible. Maybe.
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is assisted off the field after an injury during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles at Neo Quimica Arena on Sept. 6, 2024. Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Chance Of Further MCL Damage Not High
Also working in Love's favor, per Dr. Chao, is that the chances of MCL re-injury is low.
"And even if it happens, because he'd have a brace on, it's not a catastrophic injury," Dr. Chao said.
That brace that Love would wear on his injured left leg is important. Because his left leg is his lead leg when throwing.
A quarterback's lead leg is always vulnerable for the quarterback," Dr. Chao said. "But if Love wears the brace, it would protect his lead leg from an ACL injury – one that isn't in question. And it would give some protection to his MCL."
So where does Dr. Chao's experience and instincts tell him this is going to end up?
"From the get-go I always said the hope was to avoid IR, didn't think it was surgical, certainly not season-ending," he said. "Once they announced MCL, I've been saying the Vikings game is the target. The Vikings game being a divisional matchup, the Vikings game is a reasonable target."
The Packers play at home game against the Vikings on Sept. 29.
"Will he be 100 percent this week? No possible way," Dr. Chao said. "Will he be 100 percent for the Vikings? Possibly not, but I think he'll be 85-90, and he'll be playing.
"But this week is tight. I don't think it's happening."