Packers Give Jordan Love Play-Calling Duties in Preseason Finale: What This Means for the 2026 Season
Jordan Love got a very unusual assignment in the Packers’ preseason finale. He called his own plays.
Green Bay let its starting quarterback run the huddle and make the actual play calls during their preseason finale, a decision that got noticed around the NFL because you almost never see it. Most coaches want to script the game and control the tempo. Matt LaFleur decided to let Love handle it.
This is a significant vote of confidence in Love’s football IQ heading into 2026.
Love is entering his third full year as the Packers starter. He was electric in 2023, uneven in 2024, and had flashes of both in 2025. The reviews of his development have depended on which stretch of games you point to. Packers fans have wondered where he lands as a franchise quarterback, and the national narrative around him has swung back and forth.
Letting him call plays in a live game situation is LaFleur betting on his growth.
It also tells you what LaFleur wants Love to look like this year. Modern NFL offenses are increasingly built around the quarterback checking at the line, adjusting the play based on defensive looks, and being an extension of the coaching staff. The best quarterbacks in the league operate that way. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson. They are all functional co-coordinators.
Love needs to be that. If he is going to lead the Packers back to serious NFC contention, he cannot be a robot executing the coach’s script. He has to feel the game and adjust it.
The other angle here is Kyle McCord.
McCord threw four touchdowns in the Packers’ 42-38 preseason win over the Arizona Cardinals, and he has been the story of Green Bay’s summer. The rookie backup has looked comfortable, decisive, and confident. That is exactly the kind of quarterback room a starter wants to have around him, and it puts a healthy amount of competitive tension in the building.
Love should feel it. LaFleur wants him to feel it.
The play-calling assignment was likely both a compliment and a challenge. It tells Love that the coaching staff trusts him. It also puts him in a spot where his shortcomings show up on tape if he makes bad calls. That is how coaches get quarterbacks to grow.
Green Bay opens the year with real expectations. The NFC North is going to be a fight. The Lions are stacked. The Vikings have quietly built a serious roster. The Bears’ Caleb Williams is a year older. The Packers need Love to take the next step or the division race gets away from them fast.
Fans should read the play-calling experiment as LaFleur making his quarterback drive the car. If Love can do it well in the regular season, this offense unlocks another level. If he cannot, McCord is standing right there, and the Green Bay quarterback conversation gets uncomfortable fast.
Preseason play-calling is not a real game situation. But the message from LaFleur is clear. It is your team, Jordan. Run it.
Now we find out what Love does with the keys.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
