Sean Clifford? Michael Pratt? No clear candidate for the Packers’ second quarterback

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers training camp The competition for the receiver position was hot.

There was no competition for the backup quarterback position.

The Packers waited all summer for Sean Clifford or Michael Pratt to step in to replace Jordan Love. It never happened.

After strong performances against Cleveland earlier in the preseason, Clifford and Pratt struggled in the home stretch.

Against Denver and Baltimore at the end of the preseason, Clifford completed 12 of 24 passes (50.0 percent) for 96 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a passer rating of 56.9. Pratt completed 18 of 28 passes (64.3 percent) for 132 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a passer rating of 72.3.

“I think it is similar to the kick competition “There were some really good moments, but there were also some things we definitely need to do better,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the 30-7 win over the Ravens to close the preseason on Saturday at Lambeau Field. “We’ll evaluate everything that comes our way.”

There aren’t many capable quarterbacks out there if the Packers are looking for a more reliable and experienced option.

Former Tennessee Titans star Ryan Tannehill is by far the most successful of them all, but he has earned nearly $200 million in his career and is therefore not eager to sign as a backup and sit on the bench all season.

The Miami Dolphins released Mike White on Sunday. White, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Cowboys in 2018, started a total of seven games for the Jets in 2021 and 2022. He threw for a lot of yards — he averaged nearly 300 yards in four starts in 2022 — but has nine touchdowns to 13 interceptions on his resume.

Some competent replacements may also become available in the next few days. For example, the Houston Texans have Davis Mills and Case Keenum behind CJ Stroud and the Atlanta Falcons have Taylor Heinicke behind Kirk Cousins ​​​​and Michael Penix.

But given the time invested in developing Clifford (fifth-round pick in 2023) and Pratt (seventh-round pick in 2024), general manager Brian Gutekunst may prefer to rely on his young passers to continue to improve their performance under respected quarterback coach Tom Clements.

Pratt was able to close the gap on Clifford during the last two weeks of camp by taking over the second reps at times – including the 2-minute drill against the Ravens during joint practice on Thursday.

On Saturday, LaFleur changed his approach to achieve a better comparison between the two providers.

In the first preseason game in Cleveland, Love was the starter and played three snaps, Clifford played until the third quarter and Pratt finished. Last week in Denver, Clifford played almost the entire first half, leading Green Bay’s No. 2 offense against Denver’s starting defense for the first two series before both teams went to a backup-versus-substitute game.

To give Clifford and Pratt an opportunity to play with and against similar personnel on Saturday, LaFleur rotated quarterbacks every other series. Clifford was the starter and completed just 1 of 7 passes in his first two series before Pratt came in and led scoring drives that included 12 plays for a short field goal and seven plays for a touchdown.

At halftime, Clifford was 3 of 10 passing for 31 yards, a 40.0 rating, and a shotgun snap, while Pratt was 6 of 8 passing for 67 yards and a 139.1 rating. The touchdown was a great back-shoulder pass to Bo Melton.

If Pratt had a chance to grab second place in the final 30 minutes, he blew it. In the second half, Clifford completed 3 of 4 passes for 22 yards and Pratt completed 2 of 4 for 13 yards and a horrific interception.

Pratt attempted to tackle the ball and was thrown completely off-kilter. As LaFleur put it, “He was thrown completely off-kilter and couldn’t breathe.”

They will learn their fate on Tuesday. Regardless of whether Gutekunst keeps one or both players on the 53-man roster, one of them will be Love’s replacement for the Week 1 clash against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Clifford is already focused on that game. Instead of worrying about roster cuts, he’s going to “watch some footage from Philly. Obviously, camp has been very installation-focused, so we haven’t been able to get reps to watch the Birds yet. So we’re just going to start analyzing some footage from there, get a head start and maybe watch some Indy film (of the Colts) as well, so Week 1 will be that much easier.”

Clifford might have the edge in intangibles. Not only does he have a year of experience and experience in the system, he also knows what it’s like to be a backup quarterback and how to best support Love during the week and on game day.

However, Pratt has NFL-level arm strength and plenty of moldable skills.

“I think I had a pretty good camp,” he said. “I just think the most important thing was that I continued to develop as the training went on. I think I learned a lot as the training went on and got a little better every day. That was the most important thing for me.”

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