It’s no secret: In 2024 Packers lacked rhythm. Jordan Love spent much of the season dodging pressure behind an offensive line that was good in spurts but too often springing leaks. Drives stalled not just from sacks, but from blown assignments, misreads, and mistimed routes. The numbers looked decent on paper. 27.1 points per game, a top-five offense, but anyone watching could see the missed connections piling up like incompletions.

Head coach Matt LaFleur tried to spread the responsibility after the season-ending loss to Philadelphia. “I think it’s collective,” he said at the 2024 season wrap-up conference. “I just think it’s too much to put it on one person… [And] I think collectively, we have to be better.” He didn’t name names, but the subtext was clear – quarterback, line, receivers, coaches… All of them had fingerprints on the problem.

That’s where Brett Favre stepped in. Talking to TMZ Sports, the Hall of Famer said he still believes in the Packers’ young QB. “I think Jordan is the guy for that team,” Favre said. “He can play at a high level. He’s proven that.” But Favre’s bigger point was about connection. “The chemistry only comes from playing together, sitting in meetings together, practicing together.” His argument was that chemistry can’t be manufactured in the offseason or in front of cameras. It’s built in the trenches of daily reps, week after week.

And Favre’s advice comes with a catch: Jordan Love needs to stay healthy to make that chemistry possible. The 2024 season saw Love miss two games with a sprained MCL, battle a groin injury in the middle of the year, and tweak his throwing elbow late in the season. Those weren’t just personal setbacks – they were team-wide disruptions. His missed practice time meant fewer reps with receivers, altered game plans, and a rhythm that never fully locked in.

Plus, there’s the urgency factor. Favre didn’t sugarcoat it: “Unlike baseball and basketball…you can’t afford to [lose multiple games] in the National Football League. There’s just not enough games.” He’s right – the Packers ended last season on a three-game skid, watching the division slip further from reach while Chicago surged and Detroit solidified its status as the NFC North’s bully. In a league with only 17 regular-season games, a bad month can erase a good year. But while Favre’s focus is on building chemistry now, Love’s journey to even get to this point once took a far different turn. One where he nearly walked away from football for good.

Jordan Love: From nearly walking away to leading the Packers

Before the contract extensions, playoff pushes, and Lambeau cheers, Jordan Love almost quit. It was before his freshman year of high school, when his father – his constant presence and biggest supporter – took his own life after struggling with health issues. It left Love devasted. On top of the fact that he was undersized at 5-foot-6, 140 pounds, and not even the starting QB as a freshman. Frustrated, he told his mom he wanted to quit. She didn’t give a pep talk; she gave a deadline: one more year. Love agreed, played JV as a sophomore, and made football less about glory and more about a few hours to forget everything else.

By his junior year, he’d grown, earned a varsity spot, and discovered he didn’t just like football again – he loved it. That led to Utah State, an NFL draft call, and eventually the patience to sit three years behind Aaron Rodgers. And Love did reflect on that in his Players’ Tribune column, None of This Was Supposed to Happen. “Without that brotherhood of football, I never would have made it,” he wrote. He credited his mom, his teammates, and his coaches for pulling him through. He even recalled his first NFL start against Kansas City. Love described the first half as getting “punched in the mouth”. But he refused to fold because his mom was in the stands watching.

That resilience explains why Favre’s words hit so hard. Love has fought through adversity since high school. Favre sees the equation as simple — stay healthy, build chemistry, and play with urgency. Love has already tested that equation against something bigger. After nearly walking away from the game, he now leads at the highest level.