WESTFIELD, Ind. — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is expected to miss only a few days of practice after undergoing surgery for a torn ligament in his left thumb, an injury he sustained during Saturday’s preseason game against the New York Jets.

Love was noticeably absent from Thursday’s joint practice with the Colts in Westfield, Indiana, but the cast on his hand was hard to miss as he observed from the sidelines.

“With the time frame that we have right now, finishing up training camp and preseason — and heading into season with the choice to be going into the season 100% healthy — it was definitely the call I wanted to make,” Love explained. “(After) dealing with injuries last year, I wanted to go into this thing feeling good.”

Watch: Packers offense feels sting at Colts joint practice as thumb surgery sidelines Jordan Love

The Packers offense struggled during Thursday’s joint practice without Love and several top receivers. With multiple key players sidelined, the passing game had a rough day, forcing the run game to handle most of the offensive production.

“When we’re out there, the importance is knowing what to do and to do it at a really fast speed at a very consistent level, so our youth showed a little bit in some instances with the injuries we have on our depth chart,” Packers tight end Tucker Kraft stated after practice. “We’re here in full pads expecting big things from some of the guys that were elevating, and we just left some meat on the bone.”

Despite offensive challenges, running back Josh Jacobs saw some positives in the ground game.

“I feel like we ran the ball pretty good, but we got to make some throws when they’re there,” Jacobs said.

The clear winner from Thursday’s practice was the Packers defense, which responded with the pressure and takeaways that defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley had been looking for since the Jets game.

“For the most part, I mean, we played lights out as a defense,” Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark stated. “We stopped the run, got after the passer, we got a lot of turnovers, got punches at the ball and interceptions, so proud about how we played today.”

While starters weren’t scheduled to play in Saturday’s preseason game, injuries have hit the receiver room particularly hard, with five players listed as DNPs (Did Not Practice), including Romeo Doubs who suffered a back injury earlier in the week.

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