At this stage of the season, most everyone in the NFL is operating at less than 100 percent.
Count Jordan Love as one of them. The Packers quarterback admitted Tuesday he's dealing with an injury to his left, non-throwing shoulder, but believes he'll be able to tough it out going forward.
"It's one of those where I'm able to play through it," Love said on Tuesday, via The Associated Press. "Obviously, anytime you take a hit, fall on it, you feel it. But nothing that it is holding me back or nothing that I can't play through."
Love first suffered the injury in Green Bay's Week 11 win over the New York Giants, briefly exiting the game and forcing backup Malik Willis into action before returning to finish the victory. The ailment didn't hinder him in practice ahead of their Week 12 game against the Minnesota Vikings, and while it was clear he was adjusting his style of play -- Love was resorting to making all handoffs with his right hand, regardless of the direction of the play, for example -- to deal with the discomfort, it didn't affect his performance much in the run-heavy 23-6 win over Minnesota.
Green Bay also noticeably adjusted its offensive game plan to minimize the risk of further injury to Love, limiting the quarterback to 21 pass attempts while leaning significantly on the ground game as part of a conservative second-half approach.
Coach Matt LaFleur, who doubles as Green Bay's offensive play-caller, expressed appreciation for Love's willingness to fight through discomfort in order to help his team secure another victory.
"It takes a lot of physical and mental toughness to play the quarterback position, to be able to stand in there, especially when you are injured, knowing that you're probably going to get hit at some point," LaFleur said. "I thought he exuded that. I thought there were some moments where I was kind of holding my breath at times where he's getting hit and releasing the ball."
The approach made plenty of logical sense both in the moment and in the larger picture for the Packers. LaFleur was able to avoid subjecting his quarterback to unnecessary hits in a game they were clearly dominating (especially defensively), and with just five days between games -- Green Bay takes on the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day -- minimizing Love's risk was especially important.
That doesn't mean the plan is foolproof. Love will almost certainly need to lead his team in a crucial spot in the days and weeks ahead, a point at which he'll no longer be afforded the luxury of protecting himself physically.
Fortunately, this isn't the first time Love has dealt with an injury on that side of his body this season. A thumb issue forced him to undergo surgery in August, which offered him the chance to learn how to implement some unorthodox solutions in order to avoid using his left hand and/or arm.
"I think early on when I had my thumb surgery, I was doing a lot with just (my) right hand, and I think I just kind of subconsciously started doing that in this game," Love said.
It's never comforting to know your quarterback is operating at less than full strength, but it's the hand that has been dealt to the Packers as they arrive at Thanksgiving firmly in the playoff hunt at 7-3-1. They know they'll have to overcome this and other challenges as best as they can, including taking measures to protect Love when possible.
"There's things that you are able to do, and we've done those things," Love said. "So we'll continue to do them but I'm not going to continue to get into detail and talk through it, but there's definitely some things that we've done to help out and be able to play and hopefully put myself in the best foot forward.
"But at the end of the day, anytime you're injured, playing through things, there's always a chance of risking more injuries, things like that."
As Week 13 arrives, it's a risk everyone agrees is necessary.
