NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Malik Willis did things against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday that he could never do for them, which is why they traded him to the Green Bay Packers less than a month ago.

And he did so to the amazement of almost everyone in the winning visitors’ dressing room, who could not possibly have imagined that Willis would be deployed in his new team so soon after joining on August 26.

Willis wouldn’t call it a revenge game, nor would he take much credit for Sunday’s 30-14 victory over his old team in their home stadium. But others did after he led the Packers to an improbable second straight victory without Jordan Love, who missed his second straight game after injuring his knee late in the season opener.

A month ago, Matt LaFleur had never coached Willis. Now he’s 2-0 with him as his substitute starting quarterback.

“I just can’t put into words the amount of work he’s done in this short period of time,” LaFleur said. “People can’t comprehend it. I promise you, you don’t get it. I know you think you get it, but you don’t. What he’s been able to do, I’ve never seen.”

Willis had plenty of help thanks to one of the most dominant performances by a Packers defense in years, with eight sacks (their most in a game since 2005) and three more takeaways (giving them nine this season, their most through three games since 2009). Safety Xavier McKinney had his third interception in as many games to start the season and Jaire Alexander’s pick-six of Titans quarterback Will Levis in the first quarter helped Willis play from the lead for the second straight week. Preston Smith and Devonte Wyatt also had two sacks apiece.

But after a run-heavy game plan last week against the Colts, it was immediately clear Sunday that LaFleur had more in mind for Willis against the Titans. On the first play of the game, Willis hit receiver Jayden Reed on a crossing route for 30 yards. Three plays later, Willis checked out of a play based on the Titans’ defensive look and threw a 30-yard deep ball to Christian Watson that led to a 5-yard Willis rushing touchdown.

In total, Willis threw for more yards than ever in an NFL game (202 while completing 13 of 19 passes with one touchdown) and rushed for more yards (73 on six attempts) than ever before. In three starts with the Titans in 2022, he failed to reach 100 passing yards in any of them. His rushing total was the second-most by a Packers quarterback in a game since 1970, trailing only Don Majkowski’s 88 rushing yards against the Lions in 1990.

That he did it against the team that once used a third-round pick on him in 2022, only to then trade him for a seventh-round pick from the Packers, didn’t bother him. At least not publicly.

“I think all wins are equally important,” Willis said afterwards.

That’s not how things went in the Packers locker room.

“When I hear him talk about his situation and everything — I was talking to other wideouts earlier in the game — I don’t care if he doesn’t think it’s a revenge game, I’m going to go out there and make a play for him,” said Watson, who led the Packers with 67 receiving yards on two catches. “I want him to be able to go out there and win this thing, given his situation. I know he’s always going to be humble and the character that he is.”

A week after the Packers rushed 53 times and threw 14 times, the scales weren’t entirely off. Against the Titans, they rushed 37 times for 188 yards and threw 19 times. LaFleur wouldn’t say when he knew Willis would make a second straight start; Love, who practiced on a limited basis last week and was listed as questionable on the latest injury report, underwent an extensive pregame workout before being announced inactive 90 minutes before kickoff.

Whether Love will return next Sunday against the 3-0 Minnesota Vikings remains to be seen, but the emotional boost the Packers (2-1) got from finishing 2-0 without him was clear.

“I think that can galvanize our team,” LaFleur said. “We needed everybody.”