The Green Bay Packers are prepared to be patient as Jordan Love attempts to replace "generational talent" Aaron Rodgers.
That was the message from Packers coach Matt LaFleur on Tuesday as Rodgers seems set to join the New York Jets.
The veteran quarterback's trade still needs finalisation from Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, but LaFleur has already started to envisage life without Rodgers.
Love, a first-round pick in 2020, has waited three years for his chance and LaFleur acknowledged it will take time for the 24-year-old to develop.
"[Rodgers' impending trade] is what it is, and at the same time, we're excited about Jordan and how he's been able to progress as a quarterback, how he's matured as a man," LaFleur at the NFL's Annual League Meeting in Phoenix. "It's going to be a different role for him, certainly, and I think we all have to kind of temper our expectations for him.
"It's different when you're going into a game versus when you're starting a game. It's going to be a process, but it's going to be exciting for him, for us.
"I don't think any quarterback can truly do it on their own in this league. So it's going to be everybody rallying around him and trying to be at the best of their ability so that he can go out there and perform as good as he possibly can."
Love has just one career start to his name, for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, along with two appearances as a replacement.
Despite calling for the Packers to be patient with Love, LaFleur sees progress in the young quarterback who has had to wait in the wings behind superstar Rodgers.
"He's come a long way, quite frankly," LaFleur added. "I know there were some times where early on, it's just, you don't know. I still think you have to go out there and you have got to do it consistently.
"It's one thing to do it in practice. It's another thing to take it to the game field and do it but certainly have seen his performance in practice, his mechanics, his decisions, his timing within the pass game and just his accuracy. I think he's come a long way."
As for Rodgers' impending trade to the Jets, LaFleur will leave that in the hands of Gutekunst and New York's general manager Joe Douglas as he prepares to work with whatever roster the Packers provide.
"That's all between Joe and Gutey," he continued. "I'm going to leave that one to them. We'll coach whoever's on our roster.
"We'll coach them to the best of our ability and we are always going to put the best players out there that are going to give us an opportunity to win football games."