10/31/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday
31 October 2024 Sports
From Wayne Mausser-Happy Halloween!
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love didn’t practice Wednesday. However, he remained hopeful about the possibility of playing Sunday after a strained groin prevented him from finishing a 30-27 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I’ve made progress,” Love said. “It’s definitely feeling better. I think every day there will be some improvements to it, but definitely feels better than it did on Sunday.”
Love was one of several notable Packers to miss Wednesday’s practice while recovering from injuries. Love was asked how realistic it was to believe he could play when the Packers (6-2) host the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (6-1) on Sunday.
“I think it’s realistic,” Love replied.
Love initially got hurt on the first series of the game. He said it happened while rolling out to his right on a third down play. Love remained in the game until he dropped to the ground near the sideline after completing a second down pass to Josh Jacobs early in the third quarter.
This isn’t the first time this season the Packers have entered a game with uncertainty about their quarterback situation. The difference is that this time they feel better about how they might fare if Love’s unavailable, thanks to the way backup quarterback Malik Willis has performed.
Love injured his left medial collateral ligament in a season-opening 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and missed the Packers’ next two games. That forced the Packers to turn to Malik Willis who had just joined the team in an Aug. 27 trade with the Tennessee Titans.
He’s responded with a breakthrough season in a reserve role. After completing 53% of his passes (35 of 66) with three interceptions and no touchdown passes in two seasons with the Titans, Willis has completed 74.4% of his attempts (29 of 39) with three touchdown passes and no interceptions this season.
Willis led the Packers to victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Titans while Love was sidelined. Willis came through again in Jacksonville, throwing a 51-yard completion to Jayden Reed that set up Brandon McManus’ tiebreaking 24-yard field goal on the game’s final play.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur acknowledged Wednesday he’d be “much more confident” about what the Packers can accomplish if Love’s unavailable after seeing what Willis has done.
After Sunday’s game, LaFleur praised how Willis maintains a steady heartbeat when the game’s on the line and doesn’t let those moments get too big for him.
The Packers will need good quarterback production to beat the Lions because they could be missing some other key contributors.
Josh Jacobs (ankle), cornerback Jaire Alexander (knee), guard Elgton Jenkins (glute), center Josh Myers (wrist), left tackle Rasheed Walker (knee) and safety Evan Williams (hamstring) didn’t practice Wednesday. Linebacker Quay Walker practiced fully after missing the Jaguars game while in concussion protocol.
Jacobs expressed confidence after practice that he would be available Sunday.
“Just managing my body, man,” Jacobs said. “I’ll be good come game time.”
In Thursday Night Football the Jets host the Texans. New York is 2-6 while Houston is 6-2.
The Dodgers are World Series Champions coming back from a 5-0 deficit to tie the game and then win 7-6.
After going hitless in the first inning in each of the World Series’ first four games, the Bronx Bombers erupted in the first inning of this one. Facing Flaherty, Aaron Judge shook off his persistent postseason struggles with a 403-foot homer to the opposite field in right. And when Jazz Chisholm Jr. went back to back with a solo shot of his own to make it 3-0, Yankee Stadium was shaking.
Seemingly unlocked by Anthony Volpe’s Game 4 grand slam, the Yankee offense kept coming in the third, when Giancarlo Stanton obliterated Ryan Brasier’s elevated fastball for a solo blast – his seventh homer of this postseason.
The Dodgers trailed 5-0 against an unhittable Cole early, only to score five unearned runs by taking advantage of the Yankees’ many defensive miscues in the fifth. They got only 1 1/3 innings out of starter Jack Flaherty a night after a bullpen game, which meant deploying an army of arms to navigate a revived Yankee lineup. And they trailed again in the late innings, only to manufacture the tying and go-ahead runs off high-leverage relievers Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver.
Freddie Freeman was named Most Valuable player. Freeman made history in the 10th inning of Game 1 with the World Series’ first walk-off grand slam. And then he kept going.
In only five games, Freeman drove in 12 runs to tie the World Series record set by Yankees Bobby Richardson in 1960 (in seven games). He swatted homers in each of the Fall Classic’s first four games to join the Astros’ George Springer (2017) as the only player to homer in four straight games within a single World Series. And in doing so, he extended his record-setting personal World Series homer streak to six, dating back to 2021. His final World Series slash line was a ridiculous .300/.364/1.000.
The Bucks are back in action tonight at Memphis against the Grizzlies. Milwaukee, 1-3, has lost three straight while Memphis is 2-3. The Bucks are coming off a 119-108 loss at Boston on Monday night. Damian Lillard led Milwaukee with 33 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 30 points.
Share |