CHICAGO -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love left Chicago in the concussion protocol, and his team left Soldier Field with one of the most deflating losses of coach Matt LaFleur's seven-year tenure.
Love was ruled out of Saturday's 22-16 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears because of a concussion after he took a helmet-to-helmet hit from defensive end Austin Booker in the second quarter. Love was taken out of the game after Booker committed his second roughing-the-passer penalty of the first half.
LaFleur had no update on Love after the game but tried to explain how his team led for the entire game until the Bears tied the score with 1:35 left in regulation.
"We knew they were a team that was going to fight to the end," LaFleur said. "It was a playoff-type atmosphere, which we expected, but I was really, really proud of the way our guys competed, the way they battled. And we just gotta -- it's tough. It's always tough in this league to have to rebound and get it together, but that's exactly what we have to do and that's exactly what we will do to get ready for a tough Baltimore team."
Malik Willis finished the game in relief of Love and while he completed 9-of-11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs that gave the Packers a 10-point, second-half lead, he also lost a fumble on a botched snap on the first possession of overtime.
The Packers were still in control and looked like they might have ended the Bears' hopes when rookie Warren Brinson sacked Caleb Williams on third-and-20 from the Packers' 46-yard line with 3:11 left in regulation. But Brinson was called for a facemask, and things began to unravel. The Bears kicked a field goal on that drive to cut the Packers' lead to 16-9 with 1:59 to play.
"Everybody makes a mistake once in a while on the field," Brinson said. "It was just, my hand was a little too high and I grabbed his facemask."
The Packers might have survived that mistake, but then Doubs fumbled an onside kick, giving the Bears the ball back when a Doubs recovery might have ended it.
"S---, I missed it," said Doubs, who suffered a wrist injury on that play. "That's just this game, bro. I rep this s--- all week, and yeah, bro, somebody gotta be responsible, and I'm willing to take on 1000% of it."
Packers cornerbacks Nate Hobbs and Keisean Nixon then miscommunicated on a fourth-down play that allowed Caleb Williams to hit Jahdae Walker for a 6-yard touchdown that tied the score with 24 seconds left.
After Willis fumbled a snap on the first possession of overtime -- he said he sped up the snap count because the play clock was running down and it threw off center Sean Rhyan -- Williams ended it with a 46-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore, who beat Nixon in single coverage after the Packers blitz.
That's how the Packers fell to 9-5-1 and lost the chance to sweep the Bears (11-4).
It puts even more pressure on the Packers heading into their final two games -- home next Saturday against the Ravens and at the Vikings to close the season.
They likely won't know until much later in the week whether they'll have Love back for the next game.
Love has not had a reported concussion during his NFL career. He was evaluated for a concussion earlier this season against the Giants in Week 10, but instead suffered a left-shoulder injury. He returned to finish that game, and the only action he has missed since then was late in a blowout win over the Vikings in Week 11.
Earlier this year, he underwent surgery for a broken left thumb late in training camp but returned for the start of the regular season.
This is the second time that Love has not finished a game against the Bears. He left last year's regular-season finale because of a right elbow injury but returned for the playoffs the following week. Earlier last season, he could not finish the Week 8 game against the Jaguars because of a groin injury. He returned the following week.
He has missed two games since he became the Packers' full-time starter in 2023. After starting every game in his first season, he missed Weeks 2 and 3 last season because of the knee injury he suffered on the final drive of the season opener against the Eagles in Brazil.
LaFleur was noncommittal when asked whether he thought Booker's hit on Love was dirty, saying: "That's football. I gotta see it to -- I mean I saw it live, so I gotta go see it again. But stuff happens."
However, Packers left guard Aaron Banks took issue with the hit, especially because it was second penalty of the game.
"What's the flag they called on that, roughing the passer?" Banks said. "I just don't know, guys get kicked out of games for taunting, but if you hit a quarterback late in the head, you know what I'm saying? That should get the same treatment for something as simple as taunting. I think that has to be re-evaluated. I think that's ridiculous."