Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Sean Clifford would like to have some plays from Sunday’s 27-2 thrashing by the Denver Broncos. Admittedly, it wasn’t a fair fight for Clifford, who started the game when the second-team offense faced Denver’s defense. Fortunately, it only lasted two drives.
The first drive ended in a fumble on downs and the second in a punt. Clifford completed four of his six pass attempts, but his day didn’t improve much as the Broncos called back their opponents.
After the reserves entered the game, Green Bay’s next drive ended in a punt. The fourth down started promisingly, with Clifford converting a few third downs to generate a drive. But all the momentum was dashed when Clifford drove the ball deep into tight end Joel Wilson, only to see the ball fall into the hands of safety Keidro Smith.
Sadly, this turned out to be Clifford’s last throw of the day.
“It was unfortunate,” Clifford said of the throw he made. “Good play by the safety. I could have put the ball a little more to the right, to my right, but I’m not mad about it. That’s the play I want to make. I want to put it on tape. I felt good about that play, I had good coverage. Wrap up the back a little bit and that’s a good play. I’m mad about the result, but I’m not mad about the thought process that got me there.”
While it initially seemed like a bad decision, Matt LaFleur came to the quarterback’s defense, stating that Wilson could have helped him by smoothing out his route and getting to the slot quicker.
Overall, it wasn’t a great day to clearly define the backup quarterback role, as Clifford was 6-of-10 for 43 yards and an interception, while Michael Pratt was 10-of-16 for 52 yards.
LaFleur admitted his quarterbacks have not been proficient, but stressed that 11 players need to make offensive plays.
“I think the production kind of speaks to that,” LaFleur said. “It wasn’t just them. It was everyone’s fault. It was all 11. We’ve got to block better up front. We’ve got to finish better. We had some drops. I think all 11 have to be better for us to have any kind of success on offense.”
One of the few positives LaFleur took away from the Broncos game was that it was a good lesson for his guys: Not coming out with maximum effort and focus can lead to an embarrassing performance.
Luckily, Clifford and the Packers get a bit of a refresher this week, as the Baltimore Ravens will be back for a joint practice on Thursday before Saturday’s preseason finale. It’ll be a great opportunity for everyone to wash away the stench they smelled in Denver.
Clifford plans to make the most of this opportunity by getting back to making the plays he knows he can make.
“I’m probably just getting back to executing,” Clifford said. “I’m just continuing to execute the plays where they’re at, because I thought that was the main takeaway from the game (in Denver). There were some plays that I normally make that I didn’t make, so I’m just getting back to doing that and feeling good on Saturday and then going again.”
