The Green Bay Packers are hoping new starting quarterback Jordan Love proves to be a franchise quarterback in the 2023 NFL season, and defensive end Preston Smith believes the Packers' defense has a key role in Love succeeding.

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“With so much talent on our defense, we know we have to step it up a log, and knowing we have a young quarterback, we have to be tremendous this year,” Preston Smith said, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “We have to make sure we step up and do our part to help [Love] to get comfortable out there on the field. Help him get the ball in great situations and get stops to let him get comfortable back there and make sure we put him in great situations. It's not just about him putting us in great situations, but helping us be comfortable to put him in great situations with the ball in great field position and getting stops. So he can go down the field and get us touchdowns and do his thing and gain his confidence throughout the season.”

Filling the shoes of Aaron Rodgers is a monumental task, but so was filling the shoes of Brett Favre. This does not mean that Love will succeed, but the Packers have a track record of great quarterback play. It seems that Smith and the Packers defense as a whole is taking ownership of the role they have in Love's development as a player. It will be interesting to see how Love fares in his first year as the full-time starter.