Sean Clifford has accomplished precisely one regular-season move throughout his Inexperienced Bay Packers profession, which is yet one more than Malik Willis has for the staff he joined solely final week.
These are the Packers’ two in-house choices if the obvious left leg harm quarterback Jordan Love sustained within the last seconds of Friday’s 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles retains him out of the Week 2 sport in opposition to the Indianapolis Colts and past.
Clifford, who backed up Love final season and hit Bo Melton for a 37-yard completion in Week 17 in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings on the one move try of his rookie season, must be elevated or signed from the follow squad if the Packers needed to go that route. However the Packers didn’t suppose sufficient of Clifford to provide him a second 12 months as QB2, and after a coaching camp battle between him and rookie Michael Pratt, they traded a seventh-round choose to the Titans for Willis on Aug. 26.
The Packers felt Willis discovered sufficient of the offense in lower than two weeks in Inexperienced Bay to function Love’s backup for the opener. He took the ultimate two snaps in opposition to the Eagles after Love’s harm. The 2022 third-round choose by the Tennessee Titans threw an incomplete move and was sacked on the sport’s last play. Clifford reportedly made the journey to São Paulo with the staff however was not elevated to the roster for the sport.
Packers basic supervisor Brian Gutekunst selected to not signal a veteran backup throughout the offseason as a result of he favored how Clifford performed final summer time in his rookie preseason and thought the strong-armed Pratt, a seventh-round choose from Tulane, might present good competitors.
However Clifford struggled early in camp whereas Love was sitting out follow ready for his contract extension to be finalized, and Pratt did not play nicely sufficient for the Packers to maintain him.
“I believe definitely there have been some underwhelming performances at occasions,” Gutekunst mentioned after last cuts when requested concerning the Clifford-Pratt competitors.
Each quarterbacks went unclaimed on waivers after these cuts have been made. Whereas Clifford returned to the Packers’ follow squad, Pratt joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ follow squad.
Willis began three video games as a Titans rookie in 2022 and Tennessee went 1-2. Willis then appeared in solely three video games in a backup function for them final season.
“I believe that was one factor this preseason — as we observe guys by the early phases of their profession — the one factor we noticed, significantly with this new teaching employees in Tennessee, is how a lot he progressed inside the offense taking part in from the pocket and making performs that manner,” Gutekunst mentioned upon buying Willis.
“Once more, this shall be new for him, and clearly the quarterback place, it will take a little bit little bit of time. However on the identical time, simply actually enthusiastic about the place his development has taken him to date and the place he’ll go, significantly underneath our group.”
Absolutely, Gutekunst by no means thought they would wish to speed up his development to doubtlessly begin in Week 2.
The final time the Packers had a veteran former beginning quarterback on the roster as a backup was in 2021 with Blake Bortles. He frolicked with the Packers (when Aaron Rodgers skipped the offseason program that 12 months) and got here again to the follow squad that November to again up Love, who began in opposition to the Chiefs as a result of Rodgers was out due to COVID-19.
The out-of-work veteran NFL quarterback listing now contains Ryan Tannehill, Trevor Siemian, Kellen Mond, Nate Sudfeld, C.J. Beathard and PJ Walker.
An harm to Love in his first sport since signing his four-year, $220 million contract, which tied him for the highest-paid participant within the league, is the worst-case situation. Love appeared to expertise lower-leg cramps throughout Friday’s sport, and several other gamers, together with Love, had bother with their footing and slipped. There was no motive to suppose both factored in his harm.
“Yeah, that was robust to see,” Packers defensive sort out Kenny Clark instructed reporters in Brazil. “That is the franchise proper there. Hopefully, he might be again subsequent week and he might be all proper.”
