Packers' Jordan Love Praised by Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon: 'Completely Different Player'

Running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon seem to believe the Green Bay Packers have a potentially special player on their hands in new starting quarterback Jordan Love.

After the Packers selected Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft out of Utah State, he spent his first three seasons sitting and learning behind future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, who was traded to the New York Jets this offseason.

Love has one career start to his credit, going 19-of-34 for 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a narrow 13-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, Jones said Love has come a long way since that game two years ago.

"He's a different guy [than that Chiefs game]," Jones said. "The playbook wasn't all the way opened up to him. Now I feel like it is. It was very vanilla, very plain, getting blitzed all out almost every play. I think he's a completely different player."

Dillon agreed with Jones' assessment and suggested that everyone has bought into Love as the team's starting quarterback ever since Rodgers' was dealt and training camp began.

"Everyone was locked into what the quarterback had to say, and you know when guys are respecting and really want to play for somebody like, 'All right, this is what we're doing, QB1, let's ball,'" Dillon said. "It's definitely a new era here. ... I think he's going to have a hell of a career. I'm excited to be a part of the first team to have a go at it with him."

Since Love is only under contract through 2024, it was paramount for the Packers to see what they have in him, and that likely contributed heavily to the decision to trade Rodgers.

When the Packers open their preseason slate Friday night against the Cincinnati Bengals, it will mark the first game of Love's NFL career which he enters as the unquestioned starter with nobody looming behind him.

Given Love's status as a new starter, the expectation is that he will play at least a series or two against the Bengals.

According to ESPN's Rob Demovsky (h/t Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams), Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said this week there is a "pretty good chance" the starters will play "in some capacity" Friday.

Love has huge shoes to fill in the form of a quarterback who was a 10-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro, four-time NFL MVP, one-time Super Bowl champion and one-time Super Bowl MVP during his 18 seasons in Green Bay.

The same was true for Rodgers when he replaced Brett Favre, though, and that undoubtedly worked out in the Packers' favor.