Quarterback Jordan Love will not play for Green Bay on Saturday night, and that should mean the first start of the season for Malik Willis when the Packers square off against the Baltimore Ravens.

But while Love has been ruled out after sustaining a concussion in Green Bay’s previous game, Willis didn’t come out of the contest unscathed either. He sustained an injury to his throwing shoulder when he was slammed to the turf on the final play of the fourth quarter in a 22-16 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears on Saturday night.

Willis’ playing status carries a questionable designation after he practiced on a limited basis on Tuesday and Thursday and did not practice on Wednesday while also dealing with an illness.

If the “questionable” tag raised doubts about Willis’ availability, the Packers’ transaction report for the week answered them: Green Bay did not add a quarterback. The only other quarterback on the roster is Clayton Tune, who hasn’t played this season but would be available to back up Willis if the Packers elevate him from the practice squad on Saturday.

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A third-round draft pick in 2022 who made three starts in two seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Willis joined Green Bay in exchange for a 2025 seventh-round draft pick in a trade on Aug. 26, 2024. He was thrown into the fire almost immediately when Love missed the second and third games of the 2024 season. Willis helped the Packers when both games.

“Every time we’ve needed him, he’s come through and done a nice job and given us a chance to win every game that he’s been in,” Green Bay offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said this week.

Last week, Willis made his third appearance of the season when Love was knocked out of the game with 8:15 left in the first half. Willis completed 9-of-11 passes for 121 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran 10 times for 44 yards against the Bears. But Willis fumbled a fourth-down snap in overtime to end Green Bay’s possession, and Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DJ Moore four snaps later.

With Willis headed toward free agency in the offseason, Saturday night’s game will be another opportunity to show potential suitors what he can do, perhaps as a starter in 2026.

“I think he’s done a hell of a job, man,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. “Just I think it’s all about his approach, how he came in here, how open he was to being coached. And, you know, we were pretty hard on him and his footwork, and he’s done an outstanding job, and it’s just I feel like the more he plays, the better he’s gotten. And so it’s definitely great to have a guy like him that you have so much confidence in.”

Green Bay would have passed Chicago into first place in the NFC North standings with a win last week. Now the only way for the Packers to win the division and the accompanying first-round home playoff game will be to win their remaining two contests while the Bears lose both of theirs.

But Green Bay doesn’t have the pressure of holding off the Detroit Lions for a playoff spot anymore. When the Lions lost to the Minnesota Vikings 23-10 on Thursday afternoon, it put the Packers into the NFC playoff field.

“Whether it’s preseason, whether it’s in the middle of the season, whether it’s the playoffs, I don’t think it matters,” Willis said of staying cool in the stretch run. “All you try to do is go out there and go one and O each game. And if you can do that enough times, you’ll be happy.”

Willis spent two seasons as Jarrett Stidham‘s backup at Auburn. He completed 11-of-14 passes for 69 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran for 309 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries in 2017 and 2018. After transferring to Liberty, Willis completed 377-of-604 passes for 5,107 yards with 47 touchdowns and 18 interceptions and ran for 1,822 yards and 27 touchdowns on 338 carries in two seasons.

Willis appeared in 11 games during his two seasons with Tennessee and had a passing-efficiency rating of 49.4. In 10 games with Green Bay, Willis’ passing-efficiency rating has been 132.2

“This position is about decision-making,” Willis said this week. “I mean, all the cool stuff is, you know, you see guys with really strong arms, guys athletic, the main thing is just being a great decision-maker and making sure that when it’s not the perfect play that you don’t make it a disastrous play. And I think that’s what I’ve grown most with as being a young quarterback in this league and to this point now.”

The Ravens and Packers kick off at 7 p.m. CST Saturday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Peacock will televise the game.