P. Manning huddles with Packers’ Love at camp

Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterAug 1, 2023, 03:56 PM ET
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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love spent three years learning from a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t willing to listen to the advice of another one — especially when the Green Bay Packers‘ new starting quarterback has been in the midst of an up-and-down training camp.

Peyton Manning attended Monday’s training camp practice in Green Bay and not only addressed the entire team but also spent some time with Love specifically.

Love, who spent three years as Rodgers’ backup before this season, said one of his biggest takeaways from Manning was how coachable a quarterback needs to be.

“How are you asking to be coached?” Love said Manning asked him. “Are you a guy that wants to be coached really hard? Are you a guy that kind of just wants to go do your own thing? It all matters. [Manning] said that when he was a player, that was his biggest thing is he wanted to be coached really hard. He always wanted to be told what he was doing wrong and things like that.”

Manning had questions for Love, too.

“He was asking me if everybody was on the same page in terms of me with the plays, with guys, if everybody’s got good communication,” Love said. “I was pretty much telling him, ‘Yeah, we have really good communication around here.’

“I was asking him how that was for him and he talked about that to the team in the team meeting room, as well, just hitting that’s one of the biggest things that he felt was what made the Colts so good when he played for them was how well they communicated with each other and how well they bonded as a team — all that kind of off-the-field stuff.”

Manning saw Love on one of his better days. Love had perhaps his best deep throw of camp — a 67-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson — with Manning in attendance. A day later, however, Love and the offense struggled. The No. 1 offense couldn’t move the ball at all in the two-minute drill.

“It’s frustrating that we haven’t been able to even get a drive started, let alone move the ball down field to score,” Love said. “It’s something we’re going to go back to film, figure it out, watch it, see what areas we need to improve on and come back to it next week.”

Even though Manning didn’t see Tuesday’s struggles, Love said another piece of advice from Manning was applicable.

“The biggest thing is just keep going, never let your head down,” Love said. “It’s not going to be perfect. There’s going to be losses. It’s not going to be a perfect season every year, and it’s finding that capability to bounce back when not everything’s perfect. Peyton talked about that. That’s his biggest thing, handling adversity. He said he went — I don’t know exactly what it was — like 3-13 his rookie year and talked about having the rookie interception stat that he holds right now and then obviously his second year they bounced back and went like 13-3.”

Packers coach Matt LaFleur wouldn’t say exactly why Manning was at practice, although Love said it was not to ask him to do Season 2 of the Manning-produced documentary “Quarterback.” But while Manning was in town, LaFleur asked him to speak to the entire team.

“He addressed our team and just kinda the lessons he learned, especially as a young player, how to respond to adversity, the great teams he was on, his approach to the game,” LaFleur said. “I thought there it was super beneficial.”