The place will Packers flip at QB if Jordan Love misses time?

Sean Clifford has accomplished precisely one regular-season cross throughout his Green Bay Packers profession, which is yet one more than Malik Willis has for the workforce he joined solely final week.

These are the Packers’ two in-house choices if the apparent left leg injury quarterback Jordan Love sustained within the ultimate seconds of Friday’s 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles retains him out of the Week 2 sport towards the Indianapolis Colts and past.

Clifford, who backed up Love final season and hit Bo Melton for a 37-yard completion in Week 17 towards the Minnesota Vikings on the one cross 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 assume sufficient of Clifford to provide him a second yr as QB2, and after a coaching camp battle between him and rookie Michael Pratt, they traded a seventh-round decide to the Titans for Willis on Aug. 26.

The Packers felt Willis realized 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 towards the Eagles after Love’s damage. The 2022 third-round decide by the Tennessee Titans threw an incomplete cross and was sacked on the sport’s ultimate play. Clifford reportedly made the journey to São Paulo with the workforce however was not elevated to the roster for the sport.

Packers basic supervisor Brian Gutekunst selected to not signal a veteran backup in the course of the offseason as a result of he preferred how Clifford performed final summer time in his rookie preseason and thought the strong-armed Pratt, a seventh-round decide 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 effectively sufficient for the Packers to maintain him.

“I feel definitely there have been some underwhelming performances at occasions,” Gutekunst stated after ultimate cuts when requested in regards to the Clifford-Pratt competitors.

Each quarterbacks went unclaimed on waivers after these cuts had 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 feel that was one factor this preseason — as we monitor guys by means of the early phases of their profession — the one factor we noticed, notably with this new teaching employees in Tennessee, is how a lot he progressed inside the offense enjoying from the pocket and making performs that means,” Gutekunst stated upon buying Willis.

“Once more, this can be new for him, and clearly the quarterback place, it will take a bit of little bit of time. However on the identical time, simply actually enthusiastic about the place his development has taken him up to now and the place he’ll go, notably below our group.”

Absolutely, Gutekunst by no means thought they would want 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 yr) and got here again to the follow squad that November to again up Love, who began towards the Chiefs as a result of Rodgers was out due to COVID-19.

The out-of-work veteran NFL quarterback checklist now consists of Ryan Tannehill, Trevor Siemian, Kellen Mond, Nate Sudfeld, C.J. Beathard and PJ Walker.

An damage 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 state of affairs. 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 cause to assume both factored in his damage.

“Yeah, that was powerful to see,” Packers defensive sort out Kenny Clark advised reporters in Brazil. “That is the franchise proper there. Hopefully, he will be again subsequent week and he will be all proper.”