Quarterback Michael Pratt, the former Tulane Green Waves football star, continued his fight for a spot on the Green Bay Packers roster during NFL preseason training on Sunday night in Denver.
The Packers were overwhelmed by Denver 27-2 as Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw for 80 yards on 8 of 9 passes and scored a touchdown and is competing for Denver’s starting spot.
Pratt, who was drafted by the Packers in the seventh round, is not competing for the starting spot, which belongs to Jordan Love.
Pratt is trying to convince the Packers that he should either be Love’s direct replacement or that they should keep three quarterbacks. He and former Penn State star Sean Clifford are the only other quarterbacks on the preseason roster. Pratt has shared some second-team action with Clifford this week.
Clifford started the game and Pratt came in as a substitute. Love did not play.
The numbers of the two backups were strikingly similar. Clifford threw for 43 yards on 6 of 10 passes. But he also threw an interception and Pratt entered the game a little too early with just 30 seconds left in the first half. Green Bay coach Sean LaFleur, who was interviewed at halftime, did not seem pleased.
“The bottom line was it wasn’t good enough,” he said. “We had a lot of misses across the board. We threw a pick at a top prospect.”
While Clifford worked with the Packers’ No. 2 receivers, the Broncos decided to start the entire first half with their first defense, which led to Green Bay trailing 17-0 at halftime.
Pratt came into the game and the offense came alive again. However, he lost a fumble on a strip sack and failed to convert a pass on a fourth down and goal that would have given Green Bay its first touchdown of the game. The pass was a little too high and a little behind Grant DuBose.
He finished the game completing 10 of 16 passes for 52 yards. The Packers scored their only points of the game on a safety.
Pratt rushed for 46 yards at 5-foot-7 in his first preseason game last week. He has one more game to impress Green Bay before any final cuts need to be made.
Pratt’s legacy at Tulane is assured no matter what happens in his NFL career. The Boca Raton, Florida, native played four seasons for the Green Wave and threw for over 9,000 yards as he led the Green Wave’s run to the 2022 American Athletic Conference championship and victory in the Cotton Bowl over USC.
Last season, he was the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and again led Tulane to the ACC title game, where it lost to SMU.
