Packers' QB situation uncertain as Jordan Love practices, Desmond Ridder added
Backup quarterback Malik Willis was limited at Wednesday's practice with a shoulder injury.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — There’s more quarterback uncertainty surrounding the Green Bay Packers as they approach a relatively meaningless regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers have already secured the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, and the Vikings have been eliminated from postseason contention.
Starting quarterback Jordan Love is still in concussion protocol, but once again practiced on Wednesday. Love has now practiced three times while in the protocol dating back to last week. He suffered his first documented concussion in the NFL midway through the second quarter of Green Bay’s Week 16 loss to the Chicago Bears and missed the rest of that game and last Saturday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Even if Love clears protocol, the Packers might choose to rest him ahead of the wild-card round.
“Let’s just get through the week and see where we’re at,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said when asked if he’s inclined to play or sit Love if healthy. “Here’s what I told the team — we have 53 spots on our roster. You can have two call-ups … you have 48 dressed on game day, so there’s going to be some starters that aren’t going to play.
“They may not suit up. They might suit up and then you’re going to have some starters that are going to play. So basically, you guys will find out on Sunday who’s playing.”
How would LaFleur feel if Love enters Chicago or Philadelphia for a playoff game, not having played in two and a half games?
“I wouldn’t say it’s ideal, but it’s the circumstance,” LaFleur said. “So we’ve got to find a way to make the best of that circumstance, but it just is what it is. There’s some things that are out of your control. We would have loved to have had him play versus Baltimore, and that wasn’t the case. I mean, shoot, we planned for it for the majority of the week in regards to how we allocated the reps, and he’s out there and he didn’t clear.”
While Love participated in throwing drills during the portion of Wednesday’s practice open to the media, backup quarterback Malik Willis didn’t. Willis will be a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, LaFleur said, because of the right shoulder injury he aggravated against the Ravens. Willis first injured his throwing shoulder on the final play of regulation the week before against the Bears.
Jordan Love, Clayton Tune and Desmond Ridder with Malik Willis (right shoulder) observing pic.twitter.com/LS2yQjLldm
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 31, 2025
Green Bay’s third-string quarterback is Clayton Tune, a 2023 fifth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals who played sparingly against the Ravens after spending the entire season on the Packers’ practice squad. The Packers also signed free-agent quarterback Desmond Ridder to the practice squad, and he was at practice on Wednesday. Ridder was most recently on Minnesota’s practice squad before the team released him in early December. He’s a 2022 third-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons with 18 career starts.