The star quarterback exited with a concussion after he was hit hard in the second quarter, and Green Bay blew a late lead in a gut-wrenching 22-16 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears. John FitzPatrick also left with an Achilles injury, leaving the Packers thin at tight end.
The head injury for Love comes after defensive end Micah Parsons tore the ACL in his left knee during last weekend's 34-26 loss at Denver. While running back Josh Jacobs and receiver Christian Watson managed to play after they were listed as questionable, right tackle Zach Tom, safety Evan Williams and tight end Josh Whyle were sidelined by injuries.
“That's football, right?” coach Matt LaFleur said. “And you've got to stay resilient. ... You roll up your sleeves, you get back to work, and you continue to fight. And that's what our guys will do.”
Love was shaken up after a helmet-to-helmet hit by defensive lineman Austin Booker on a sack. Booker was flagged for roughing the passer.
The 27-year-old Love eventually jogged off the field and went into the blue injury tent on Green Bay’s sideline. Then he walked to the visiting locker room.
There was no update on Love after the loss.
“I hollered at him after the game, just really quickly,” said backup quarterback Malik Willis, who replaced Love. “I mean, I didn’t get to really get into it too much with him. Just let him know I’m praying for him and hope he’s ready to go.”
Willis gave Green Bay (9-5-1) a spark, going 9 of 11 for 121 yards and a touchdown — a beautiful 33-yard pass to Romeo Doubs late in the third quarter. Willis also had 10 carries for 44 yards on the ground.
Willis and the Packers were in control after they opened a 16-6 lead on Brandon McManus' third field goal, a 28-yarder with 5:03 left. But they were unable to close out a win that would have moved them back into first place in the NFC North.
“Just too many errors in critical moments that got us beat,” LaFleur said.
Green Bay went 0 for 5 in the red zone, after it was 1 for 4 in those situations against Denver. Doubs mishandled an onside kick that was recovered by Chicago. There was a botched exchange between Willis and Sean Rhyan in overtime, setting the stage for Caleb Williams' game-ending touchdown pass for the Bears.
“I just didn’t do the job right and like I said, I’ll take 100% of this game,” Doubs said.
Willis took the blame for the snap miscue in overtime.
“Just a miscommunication between me and Sean,” he said. “He wasn’t expecting me to change up the cadence, but the clock got low and I was just trying to hurry up and get a snap. So we’re just a little off timing, off kilter there. That’s on me.”
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