GREEN BAY \u2014 Malik Willis is focused on the here and now. And while he\u2019s not the first NFL player to claim that he\u2019s living in the moment, the Green Bay Packers No. 2 quarterback is more convincing than most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe that comes from the experience of having your promising career take unexpected and unwelcome twists and turns, and from knowing that for all the success he had last season with the Packers \u2014 let\u2019s be clear, the Packers don\u2019t make the playoffs without him \u2014 he still has a lot more to prove and accomplish.<\/p>\n
So as he prepared to start Saturday\u2019s second preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium \u2014 while starter Jordan Love recovers from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb \u2014 he\u2019s not about to obsess about whatever happens at Lucas Oil Stadium might mean for his long-term future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try not to look too far ahead. I\u2019m blessed enough to wake up today, so I try to focus on today and try not to look past it,\u201d Willis said as he ran the No. 1 offense throughout the week following Love\u2019s injury in last Saturday\u2019s preseason opener against the New York Jets.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just don’t know the day you won\u2019t wake up, so I try not to look too far forward and not let that get to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
If that approach is working for Willis, so be it. But after being acquired from the Tennessee Titans at the end of training camp last summer for a seventh-round pick, and then being thrust into the starting lineup when Love went down with a left knee injury in the closing moments of the Packers\u2019 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil, the stakes for the 26-year-old Willis are high.<\/p>\n
In the final year of the four-year, $5.16 million contract he signed with the Titans as a 2022 third-round pick from Liberty, Willis admits that he\u2019d like another shot at being a full-time NFL starter after starting three games for the Titans as a rookie before getting caught in a regime change in Nashville.<\/p>\n
The Titans went from taking Willis in 2022 to picking Will Levis in the second round in 2023 to taking Cam Ward as the No. 1 overall pick in April. Had he gotten the chance to sit and develop for awhile \u2014 like, say, Love did behind four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers \u2014 perhaps his career would have unfolded differently.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Titans, who are now on their third general manager in four years, got what they could for Willis from the Packers \u2014 and it wound up being a season-saving trade for Green Bay.<\/p>\n
Acquired on Aug. 27, Willis was starting against the Colts just 19 days later \u2014 having taken a crash course in head coach Matt LaFleur\u2019s offense \u2014 and helping the Packers to a 16-10 win. The next week, he led them to a 30-14 victory over his former team in Tennessee.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came in last year and hit the ground running. He did a great job,\u201d Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said this week. \u201cI think where he sits now, having a full offseason with Matt and his staff, he\u2019s certainly so much further along not only in his play but then just how he affects the room, as well. Really good addition to our quarterback room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Willis then came on in relief of an injured Love in a Week 8 win at Jacksonville, delivering a colossal on-the-money downfield throw to Jayden Reed to set up Brandon McManus\u2019 game-winning walk-off field goal.<\/p>\n
He finished last season having completed 74.1% of his passes for 550 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions (124.8 passer rating).<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, if you ask me, it\u2019s no way that this guy shouldn\u2019t be starting somewhere. I mean, that\u2019s just my opinion,\u201d veteran running back Josh Jacobs said. \u201cThe way that I see him on a day-to-day basis, his attributes, the way he uses his mind and things like that, he\u2019s a really good football player. We have the ultimate confidence in him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In last week\u2019s 30-10 debacle against the Jets, Willis ran the No. 2 offense and completed 4 of 9 for 39 yards (57.2 rating) and lost a fumble on a sack in the end zone for a Jets touchdown. Against the Colts, he\u2019ll again be working mostly with the backup unit \u2014 even though he\u2019s set to start the game with Love sidelined \u2014 as LaFleur doesn\u2019t plan on playing many if any starters.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust be you,\u201d LaFleur replied when asked what he\u2019s told Willis this week. \u201cThat\u2019s really the expectation you have for everybody. You don\u2019t have to do anything different. It\u2019s not like he hasn\u2019t been in this position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great he\u2019s had that experience with us of being \u2018The Guy.\u2019 Nothing really changes. The focus is on doing your job to do the best of your ability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question now is whether Willis will get the chance to be \u2018The Guy\u2019 for someone else next season. The Packers would like to see him on the field only in mop-up duty in blowout wins, and while Love did endure multiple injuries last year, he started all 19 games (including playoffs) in 2023 in his first year as the starter.<\/p>\n
Not that Willis is thinking that way, of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019ll see if an opportunity arises and I\u2019m able to prove that. That\u2019s just the way this league goes,\u201d Willis said. \u201cIt\u2019s a business. Some people are able to prove it for a long period of time, some people get three games as a rookie and that\u2019s just the way it goes.<\/p>\n
“So you just stay around until you get an opportunity and take advantage of it when you do. When my opportunity came here [last year], it was just awesome to get back out there again. And I\u2019d say I put something on tape that might spark some interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely want the opportunity to get on the field. I like playing football and more than anything, just get the chance to utilize all the work that I\u2019ve put in. So we\u2019ll see what happens and focus on that when it gets here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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