With Aaron Rodgers now in New York, Sean Clifford inherited the future Hall of Famer’s locker at Lambeau Field. That is the only thing given to Clifford, the former Penn State quarterback.
He will battle Danny Etling for the backup job behind Jordan Love.
“It’s all opportunity,” Clifford said, via Bill Huber of SI.com. “Coach [Matt] LaFleur put up yesterday, ‘Opportunity is either nowhere or now here.’ It’s really about the opportunity is now here.
“For all of us – not only myself but the other guys in the class – just being able to really come in and show the staff and the front office and the NFL what we did in college and how we’re going to get better in the NFL. I don’t look at it as pressure. I’m trying to focus on what I can do first and how I can help others. I really don’t look at it as I’m trying to win this, win that. I’m just trying to get better every single day.”
The Packers selected Clifford with the 149th overall pick in last weekend’s draft, 116 spots behind the Titans’ selection of Will Levis.
Clifford beat out Levis for the starting job at Penn State in 2019 and 2020 before Levis transferred to Kentucky. Clifford topped 10,000 passing yards in his college career.
“I just took care of what I could control,” Clifford said. “Will is a fantastic player. He’s going to have a great career. He had a great one at Kentucky, and he’s going to have a great one in Tennessee.
“He’s a good buddy of mine. We got along really well. It was a very healthy competition all the way through. We were always battling but never holding back from each other, always teaching each other and growing together. It was a lot of fun to compete with him and I’m happy to see him having so much success.”
It’s still possible the Packers could seek to add a veteran quarterback since Etling has never made a regular-season snap and Clifford is a rookie. But for now, it’s a two-quarterback race for the backup job.
