GREEN BAY — Preseason football is, by nature, largely forgettable. The games don’t count in the standings, and many of the snaps are played by guys who won’t be on the team by training camp’s end. 

But there are exceptions, of course — when a player does something spectacular to earn a roster spot at the 11th hour, or when a key player suffers a cataclysmic injury that alters the trajectory of the team’s season.

The Green Bay Packers have certainly had their unfair share of the latter over the years.

In 1997, when they kicked off their Super Bowl XXXI title defense, running back Edgar Bennett ruptured his Achilles’ in the preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins and was lost for the season. His backup, Dorsey Levens, went on to have a 1,805-yard, 12-touchdown season on a combined 382 total touches.

In 1999, quarterback Brett Favre banged the thumb on his right (throwing) hand on Denver Broncos linebacker John Mobley’s helmet during a preseason game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, and the injury bothered him the rest of the year. The Packers went 8-8 and Favre threw an NFL-worst 23 interceptions.

And in 2015, coming off a gut-wrenching NFC Championship Game meltdown in Seattle seven months earlier and with Super Bowl aspirations, the Packers went to Pittsburgh and lost No. 1 wide receiver Jordy Nelson to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

Even with quarterback Aaron Rodgers coming off his second NFL MVP season, the offense was never the same without Nelson, who’d caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns during an All-Pro season in 2014.

Nelson’s injury also resulted in the organization’s philosophical shift about preseason games, choosing a better-safe-than-sorry approach thereafter.

It is with that historical backdrop in mind that Packers head coach Matt LaFleur announced Tuesday that he intends to play his starters — including quarterback Jordan Love — in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

“He will [play], as of right now,” LaFleur said. “I always have the right to change my mind.”

Love has played in the preseason each of his first three years as the starter following Rodgers’ departure during the 2023 offseason, but Love got an injury scare of his own in last year’s exhibition opener against the New York Jets at Lambeau Field.

Love tore a ligament in the thumb on his left (non-throwing) hand when he was sacked on his final snap against the Jets, an injury that required surgery.

Love returned to practice roughly a week after surgery but was limited in drill work and didn’t take under-center snaps until shortly before the team’s regular-season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7.

“Obviously, what happened last year sucked. It was very tough,” Love said Tuesday. “I’m glad that the timeline was what it was, and I was able to be good for Week 1. But yeah, it’s definitely one of those things you got to take into consideration going into preseason.

“Me and Matt have talked, and I think the plan is to play some limited role this week and see how it goes going forward. But that’s always something that you’ve got to be smart when you’re out there, trying to avoid taking hits, things like that. But you know, it is football.”

Earlier in the week, LaFleur cited NFL data in his decision-making process, saying the analytics show that players who see a certain number of snaps in preseason games and joint practices are three times less likely to suffer injuries once the regular season begins. 

“I’d say it’s pretty fluid in regards to how many snaps [they’ll play], but I do think there’s a lot of value for all our guys to just get mentally prepared to go play a game, whether it’s one play, whether it’s three plays, 10 plays, the whole game,” LaFleur said. “I think there’s a ton of value in that, just getting your process down.”

LaFleur, whose team opens regular-season play Sept. 13 at Minnesota,  acknowledged that his mix-and-match offensive line, which won’t have left guard Aaron Banks, who has yet to take an 11-on-11 snap in practice because of a nagging knee injury, or right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, who has started doing team periods but is still on a modified schedule after last year’s season-ending partially torn patellar tendon.

“I think there’s certain individuals that will stay in the game,” LaFLeur said.

Love, meanwhile, suggested that he will alter how he plays — however many snaps he gets — after last year’s experience with the thumb injury.

“The main thing is to stay healthy. Obviously, avoid taking hits,” Love said. “If you get into a scramble situation, definitely not take any hits outside the pocket, anything like that. But really, it’s just about being smart, trying to get the ball to your hand, finding those completions, putting together a good drive.

“I think [playing in the preseason] gets you in the right mindset and just gets you back in that real game feel. Obviously, we’ve been going against each other in practice. To be able to see new looks, a new defense, different guys out there, I think it’s all good stuff that just gets you in the right mindset going into Week 1.”

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