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Part – Newstatenabenn

    • Packers gain options as quarterback Malik Willis resurrects career
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    Packers gain options as quarterback Malik Willis resurrects career

    Sakege Posted on

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    GREEN BAY – Six weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers sent his backup quarterback onto the field with a chance to take advantage of a surprising first-half lead against the Indianapolis Colts.

    There was 1 minute and 42 seconds left when Malik Willis − start in place of the injured jordanian love − crouched under the center. The packers led 10-0. They had three timeouts left. A touchdown could have put the shocked Colts in a three-score hole entering halftime. Coach Matt LaFleur had a different idea.

    Willis went on to jose jacobs on first try. He gained 7 yards. A good start. Almost 40 seconds passed on the stopwatch. No waiting time.

    He handed it back to Jacobs. LaFleur called a timeout this time, but only after letting the game clock tick down to the final second. No rush.

    One more handoff and Jacobs ran 2 yards for the first down. LaFleur let time expire.

    It would have been “unwise,” LaFleur said afterward, to ask his newly acquired quarterback to run a 2-minute drill. That’s what made Willis’ winning drive Sunday in Jacksonville so impressive. This time there was 1:48 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Game tied. Ball in Willis’s hand.

    LaFleur let his backup quarterback win a game.

    “Probably the situation,” Willis said. “Apart from that, what was the situation as far as the game was concerned. This time the game was tied. So we needed points. Last time we were up before the half. And those endings of games and endings of halves are totally different. Even as the defensive coordinator calls it. So you have to understand that they are different and that is what influenced what happened.”

    Malik Willis’ humility keeps his success from being a distraction

    It was a typical Willis response. The same quarterback who said beating the Jaguars “had nothing to do with me” – even after his 51-yard completion to Jayden Reed with 1:13 left set up the game-winning field goal – He won’t say anything that highlights himself. Willis’ constant, almost stubborn deviance certainly works well in the locker room. Not that his three games this season are remote enough to constitute a quarterback competition with Love, but the situation could quickly get awkward if Willis was showing off.

    He’s not going to let that happen.

    The bigger question isn’t what Willis’ emergence means for the quarterback depth chart, but for the packers as a whole. Willis can avoid the attention that comes from soundbites all he wants, but the reality is that he is auditioning for the rest of the NFL right now. After two failed seasons with the Tennessee Titans, the 2022 third-round pick was traded for a seventh-round pick. In compensation to the quarterback, that’s nothing.

    Willis has won three games since then, including a start against his former team. He has completed 29 of 39 passes (74.4%) for 380 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 130.3. He has rushed for 137 yards on 16 carries and another score.

    And now he has led a winning offense in the 2-minute drill.

    Anyone in Willis’s position could be forgiven for wondering what happens next. It’s human nature. Willis is not publicly considering his options.

    “Not really,” he said. “We still have many games left this season. We have a game next week against a really good opponent. I feel like that’s what we need to focus on now. Anything more than that is just pride.”

    It’s possible Willis could play again this week when the Packers host the Detroit Lions. Love made it clear that he wants to play, and is realistic that he will play, in a game where the Packers could take first place in the NFC North with a win before their bye. The Packers certainly hope to have Love under center. Willis can’t duplicate the big game ability, manipulating the throwing windows the way Love’s cannon allows.

    When put in position to win the game, Malik Willis delivers

    The Packers showed they already have more confidence with Willis in just a few weeks. Willis’ assessment has merit. LaFleur didn’t have the flexibility to play it safe late in the fourth quarter of a tied game, as he had a Week 2 lead going into halftime. Still, throwing the ball deep on second-and-6 from the Packers’ 34-yard line was a gamble. An incomplete would have stopped the clock. The Jaguars still had two timeouts and more than a minute left.

    There was plenty of time to mount a fast break if the Packers didn’t score.

    “I felt like it was a calculated shot,” LaFleur said.

    LaFleur sent his offense onto the field in hopes that the Jaguars would show a specific defensive look. Their strong safety had crept into the box during the second half, trying to defend the run. If it happened again, LaFleur believed receiver Jayden Reed could get open on the left sideline.

    He was content to run the ball on second down after gaining 4 yards on first. If Willis was involved in the pass play, LaFleur felt his quarterback had the mobility to avoid problems with his legs. Willis had gained 20 yards on a keeper early in the second half. When Reed broke through, the Packers got exactly what they expected from the Jaguars defense.

    Willis still had to make the throw. LaFleur’s confidence in the backup came not only from Willis’ first two starts, but also from how he handled the start of the third quarter off the bench, without a single practice rep during the week. When Willis met for the 2-minute drill, he had completed 3 of 4 passes. His only incompletion was a perfectly thrown ball that catcher Romeo Doubs dropped over the middle.

    “I’m very impressed,” LaFleur said, “with his ability to come in mid-game, and the moment isn’t too big for him. I don’t think that’s the case for everyone. It just seems like his heartbeat stays pretty constant. There were some big plays that he made in that game, and I also think the confidence that the team has in him in his ability to lead us, I think is pretty evident when you watch us play.

    “That was a big play for Jayden Reed at the end of the game. Those are usually the ones that, when the guy is that open, you tend to take care of. And he threw down a dime. He beat Jayden calmly.”

    Malik Willis gives Packers options at key position

    It’s unclear how many significant snaps Willis will play in the final nine games of the season. That’s the reality of a backup. Nothing is guaranteed. Everything you do will dictate the future of your career. The better Willis plays, the more difficult general manager Brian Gutekunst’s decision becomes this offseason.

    Gutekunst could trade Willis for better compensation than the seventh-round pick he dealt to the Titans. He could also keep Willis on the roster after seeing how valuable he has been in the first half of this season. A backup quarterback who can win games is a rare commodity. The Packers are not 6-2 entering their matchup against the Lions this week without his backup.

    Willis doesn’t say how he hopes this ends. More than winning, he’s giving the Packers something they couldn’t expect at the start of this season.

    They have options.

    Sakege
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