Former Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford took the field for his first NFL game Friday night with the Green Bay Packers visiting the Cincinnati Bengals in week 1 of the NFL preseason.
Presumed starter Jordan Love took the first two drives for Green Bay before turning the offense over to the 25-year-old rookie hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio where he won a state championship for St. Xavier.
Clifford was sharp on his first drive of the game, completing 4-of-5 passes for 53 yards on a drive that ended in a touchdown for Green Bay, in a game the Packers ultimately won 36-19.
On Clifford’s second drive of the night, Clifford forced a bad throw off his back foot that was picked and returned for a touchdown by Cincinnati’s Tycen Anderson.
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Two drives later, Clifford threw a second pick to Tycen Anderson.
However, Clifford shook off the second pick and in the next Green Bay drive, led the Packer’s 66 yards in four plays before the end of the half to give the Packers the lead.
Clifford capped the drive off by throwing his first NFL touchdown to Tyler Davis with 22 seconds left in the half.
Sean Clifford zips it to give Green Bay the lead before the half!
📺: #GBvsCIN on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/bBFpXewtKp pic.twitter.com/4s8t1fJ11m— NFL (@NFL) August 12, 2023
Sean Clifford Takeaway From Packers’ Debut
Clifford showed an ability to move the offense and, outside of the two poor throws, the accuracy needed to play on Sundays.
Clifford finished the game 20-of-26 passing for 208 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The former Penn State star also finished second on the team with 27 rushing yards.
Five of Clifford’s nine drives ended in either a touchdown or field goal.
While Clifford would surely like to have the two poor throws back, the rookie made an impression in his first NFL game action.
Sean Clifford in his first game as a Green Bay Packer:
• 20/26 passing (76.9%)
• 208 passing yards
• 27 rushing yards
• 1 passing TD
• 2 INT’s
• led 5 drives that ended in either a TD or FGAn IMPRESSIVE start for the Packers 25-year-old rookie QB.
The Packers QB room is… pic.twitter.com/kn6aq5Bzqz
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) August 12, 2023
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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