The Green Bay Packers are still determining who will be the backup quarterback behind Clayton Tune for Sunday’s regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings.
Coach Matt LaFleur and his staff have two days to figure out which of the three quarterbacks — Jordan Love, Malik Willis or Desmond Ridder — will be the No. 2 option on Sunday.
“To be determined,” LaFleur said Friday morning.
Tune, who was signed from the practice squad this week, will make his first start of the 2025 season and second start of his career as the Packers plan to rest key players during the regular season finale.
LaFleur said the team is still waiting to see who is medically cleared to play before making a decision on Tune’s backup.
“We have to see if everybody is medically cleared to go, we’ll make a decision,” LaFleur said.
Love passed the concussion protocol on Thursday and has practiced in full on both Wednesday and Thursday. Willis is dealing with both a throwing shoulder and hamstring injury. Ridder has only been in Green Bay for two days.
There are varying degrees of risk to the three options. The Packers don’t intend for Love to play on Sunday and certainly don’t want to risk him in a meaningless game for playoff seeding, but he’s healthy. Willis has been the backup quarterback all season, but he’s dealing with two injuries and could probably use a week to get healthy before the postseason. Ridder comes with the least risk, but he’s limited in terms of how much of the offense he could realistically execute given his time on task.
Given Love’s importance and Willis’ injuries, the best guess on Tune’s backup for Sunday is Ridder, who would need to be elevated from the practice squad to the gameday roster on Saturday.
LaFleur said Tune has done an “outstanding job” while working closely with quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion this week.
On Ridder, LaFleur said “he’ll be ready to go if need be” on Sunday.
The Packers faced Ridder as the Falcons starting quarterback in 2023. He completed 19 of 32 passes, threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown as Atlanta erased a 24-12 deficit by scoring 13 straight points in the fourth quarter.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers still determining backup QB for regular season finale vs. Vikings
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
