GREEN BAY – It's too bad the touchdown didn't count, and it's a good thing Jordan Love was OK.
But the moment Love took a helmet shot at the goal line from Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood in the fourth quarter Sunday was still a pivotal point in the game.
It took center Sean Rhyan and rookie left guard Jager Burton almost no time to sprint toward the end zone and give Sherwood and the Jets a piece of their mind, creating a small skirmish, and their quarterback appreciated it.
"I love it," Love said. "I definitely told those guys after the game I loved that. I love that they got my back in that situation and that's how it should be. I think that just speaks to the type of team we've got.
"If you can always have each other's back, I think it boosts morale, it makes guys want to play harder for each other."
Rhyan certainly felt it had an impact in the moment as part of the Packers' comeback, and he was still pretty fired up talking about it on Tuesday.
"Yeah cuz … if we got his back, our (bleeping) defense will be like, let's get that (stuff) going," Rhyan said. "Kinda just makes everyone (bleeping) fire an extra gear in a way."
Green Bay's defense also responded, holding the Jets to just 30 total yards and two first downs over their final three possessions of the fourth quarter and overtime. That included consecutive short-yardage stops on third-and-2 and fourth-and-1 near midfield in the final two minutes of regulation, and then back-to-back sacks to start the OT drive.
Back to the goal-line play, Love had crossed for a 7-yard TD and a flag flew on Sherwood, but unfortunately it was offset by a holding call back at the line of scrimmage. The Packers still scored two plays later, but the rally took on a different feel at that point.
Rhyan felt Sherwood, who was in the end zone and unable to stop Love from reaching the goal line, launched himself into the QB's head, so the reaction to confront him was swift.
"You just do, you don't think," Rhyan said. "You just go. Go and protect him."
Rhyan acknowledged the offensive linemen heard the criticism levied at them last season when they didn't react that way after some of the hits Love took. The takedown that gave Love a concussion in the December regular-season meeting in Chicago was one that generated a lot of discussion.
Without getting into specifics, Rhyan suggested that the linemen sometimes can be looking downfield and won't always see a hit that happens behind them, and they don't want to react unless they know exactly what they're reacting to.
This one was downfield in front of everybody, so there was no mistaking it.
Moving forward, the challenges aren't getting any easier for the group up front.
Right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele has a long-term knee injury and left guard Aaron Banks is estimated as a non-participant in practice during this short week due to knee and toe injuries. Meanwhile, Bako-Bewele's replacement, Anthony Belton, was added to the injury report Tuesday as limited (elbow), and the first sub for Banks, Donovan Jennings, is also listed as limited (hand).
So the rookie Burton, who took over for Jennings against the Jets, could be in line for his first NFL start Thursday night in between Rhyan and left tackle Jordan Morgan. It's unclear what the Packers would do if Belton isn't available, but John Williams and Travis Glover are reserves on the 53, and four more linemen reside on the practice squad.
All the moving parts and uncertainty are less than ideal, but it's life in the NFL, and Love is simply focused on playing his game no matter who's protecting him.
"I don't change my expectations at all," he said. "I expect those guys to go out there and put their best foot forward and give me time to be able to go out there and try dicing a defense up.
"That's the expectations, whoever's out there. Nothing changes. Game-plan-wise, I think we'll look at some things to maybe help some areas, but for me, the expectations are those guys are going to go out there and do their job, and I'm confident in what they're going to be able to do."
