Sean Clifford has completed exactly one pass in the regular season during his career with the Green Bay Packers, one more than Malik Willis has for the team he joined last week.
Those are the Packers' two internal options if the apparent left leg injury suffered by quarterback Jordan Love in the final seconds of Friday's 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles keeps him out of the Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts and beyond.
Clifford, who was Love’s backup last season and connected with Bo Melton for a 37-yard completion in Week 17 against the Minnesota Vikings on the only pass attempt of his rookie season, would have to be promoted or signed from the practice squad if the Packers wanted to go that route. But the Packers didn’t think highly enough of Clifford to give him a second year as their QB2, and after a training camp battle between him and rookie Michael Pratt, they traded a seventh-round pick to the Titans for Willis on Aug. 26.
The Packers felt Willis learned enough about the offense in less than two weeks in Green Bay to serve as Love’s backup for the opener. He played the final two snaps against the Eagles after Love’s injury. The Tennessee Titans’ 2022 third-round draft pick threw an incomplete pass and was sacked on the game’s final play. Clifford reportedly traveled to São Paulo with the team but was not promoted to the roster for the game.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst decided not to sign a veteran backup during the offseason because he liked how Clifford played last summer in his rookie preseason and thought the tough Pratt, a seventh-round pick out of Tulane, could provide good competition.
But Clifford struggled early in camp while Love sat out practice waiting for his contract extension to come together, and Pratt didn't play well enough for the Packers to keep him.
“I think there were certainly some disappointing performances at times,” Gutekunst said after the final cuts when asked about the Clifford-Pratt competition.
Both quarterbacks went unclaimed off waivers after those cuts were made. While Clifford returned to the Packers' practice squad, Pratt joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad.
Willis started three games as a rookie for the Titans in 2022 and Tennessee went 1-2. Willis appeared in just three games off the bench for them last season.
“I think that was one thing this offseason, as we followed guys in the early stages of their career, what we saw, particularly with this new coaching staff in Tennessee, is how much he progressed within the offense playing out of the pocket and making plays that way,” Gutekunst said of acquiring Willis.
“Again, this will be new for him and obviously the quarterback position will take a little bit of time. But at the same time, I'm very excited about where his progress has taken him so far and where he's going to go, particularly with our group.”
Gutekunst probably never thought he'd need to accelerate his progression to potentially be a starter in Week 2.
The last time the Packers had a former veteran starting quarterback on the roster as a backup was in 2021 with Blake Bortles. He spent time with the Packers (when Aaron Rodgers skipped the offseason program that year) and returned to the practice squad in November to back up Love, who started against the Chiefs because Rodgers was out with COVID-19.
The list of unemployed veteran NFL quarterbacks now includes Ryan Tannehill, Trevor Siemian, Kellen Mond, Nate Sudfeld, CJ Beathard and PJ Walker.
An injury to Love in his first game since signing his four-year, $220 million contract, which tied him for the highest-paid player in the league, is the worst-case scenario. Love appeared to suffer lower leg cramps during Friday’s game, and several players, including Love, struggled to keep their balance and slipped. There was no reason to think either factor was a factor in his injury.
“Yeah, it was tough to watch,” Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark told reporters in Brazil. “That's the franchise. Hopefully he can come back next week and be OK.”
