The Green Bay Packers didn’t ask quarterback Malik Willis to pass much during their 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
The Auburn alumnus hadn’t started practicing with the team until Aug. 28, after being obtained in a trade with the Tennessee Titans. Willis was slated for backup duty but got elevated when Jordan Love sustained a knee injury with six seconds remaining in Green Bay’s season-opening game on Sept. 6.
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Against Indianapolis, the Packers had 53 rushing attempts, their most in a game since 1978, while Willis passed 14 times. He was supposed to throw at least once more, but he had a problem that had nothing to do with the Colts.
On a third-and-10 snap at the Green Bay 47-yard line, Willis scrambled for 3 yards.
“I asked Malik why he didn’t throw the ball on that third down,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “He told me, ‘(Center) Josh (Myers) threw up on the ball.’ That’s the first time I have ever heard that. Matter of fact, the official came over to me and said, ‘We saw your center throwing up on the ball. Do you want us to take him out next time?’ I said, ‘Absolutely. Please do that,’ because you’re talking about a critical situation and it’s third down and I’ve never had to throw with vomit on a football. Malik probably didn’t appreciate that.”
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Sunday’s game kicked off with an unusually high temperature of 85 degrees on “the frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“I felt like I had something in my throat,” Myers told USA Today. “I don’t know if it’s just from the electrolyte drinks that we drink and stuff, but something was caught in my throat when I was breathing that hard. I bent over and, I just, I don’t know. I threw up.”
Otherwise, Willis completed 12-of-14 passes for 122 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in the fourth start of his NFL career. The touchdown pass was Willis’ first in the NFL. He also ran six times, contributing 41 yards to Green Bay’s ground total of 261.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
