Acme Packing Company
Cincinnati Bengals starting quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a turf toe injury this weekend, one that ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported will keep him out of action for at least three months following surgery. In response, the Bengals have signed two new quarterbacks to their practice squad on Tuesday: Mike White and Sean Clifford.
Clifford is a former Green Bay Packers draft pick, selected 149th overall in the 2023 draft. Clifford served as Jordan Love’s primary backup quarterback in 2023 before being demoted to a practice squad role in 2024. The Penn State product spent this summer in Green Bay, too, but was let go, along with Taylor Elgersma, at the roster cutdowns. The Packers ultimately signed Clayton Tune, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals, to be their practice squad quarterback in 2025, behind Love and Malik Willis.
Clifford is a Cincinnati high school product, as he played prep football at St. Xavier, a high school powerhouse in Ohio. Now, he’ll have a chance to contribute to the 2025 Bengals, whose quarterback room will be comprised of Jake Browning, Brett Rypien (practice squad), White (practice squad) and now Clifford.
While in Green Bay, Clifford completed a single 37-yard pass during his regular season with the Packers in 2023. He also posted three carries for negative two yards in kneeldowns with the team.
While Clifford isn’t very experienced, neither are the players ahead of him on the depth chart right now, either. Both White and Browning have started seven games each in the NFL, while Rypien has four starts under his belt.
By the time the Packers come off their Week 5 bye to play the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6, it’s not impossible to think that Clifford will be in the mix to start that game against the team that drafted him out of college.
