Jordan Love needs significant playing time in Packers first preseason game

Don't look now, but the Jordan Love era is officially here.

Technically, it became official the moment the Green Bay Packers traded Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, and if you're a real "Love truther" it was official the moment general manager Brian Gutekunst traded up to pick Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft — despite having Rodgers on the roster.

Moving onto Love has always been Gutekunst's plan, and Friday night against the Cincinnati Bengals in preseason game No. 1, it's time to see that plan in action.

Literally, it's time to see Love in action.

Packers fans have gotten used to Rodgers sitting out preseason games and he's doing just that with New York, but Love and the 2023 Packers don't have that sort of luxury. Sure, the risk of injury is there, but it's there in practice as well. 

The greater risk for Green Bay is that Love enters the 2023 season not fully prepared to play when the bullets are flying for real and like it or not, the best way to simulate that before Week 1 is to let Love get as many snaps as possible in preseason action.

This isn't saying Love should play the whole game on Friday, but head coach Matt LaFleur would be wise to give Love at least the first half of action. He only has one career start under his belt, after all.

Under Rodgers, preseason football was more of a formality the Packers had to get through. Under Love, it's a prime opportunity for him to continue to get on the same page with the likes of second-year wideouts Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, not to mention rookie slot receiver Jayden Reed and tight end Luke Musgrave. 

The Packers have way too many young players on offense around Love to simply coast through the preseason. Frankly, despite the fact that he's a three-year veteran, he's a young player as well. 

It's time to get to work.