The Green Bay Packers Jordan Love Era is officially underway, and underway with a win.
Granted, most of the Packers starters only played a few snaps, but new starting quarterback Jordan Love had a good (but not great) outing, completing seven of his 10 pass attempts, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs before getting pulled out of the game.
For those keeping track of such things, the Packers won the game, 36-19.
Rookie Sean Clifford played most of the snaps at quarterback, completing 20-26 for 208 yards passing with one touchdown but also had a pair of interceptions, including a pick-six thrown right to Cincinnati’s Tycen Anderson, wo returned it 43 yards for the score.
Seeing their starting quarterback play at all in the preseason is a departure for Packers fans, but don’t expect to see Love take many more snaps that what he took Friday night the rest of the preseason.
"I had fun in there tonight,” Love said after the game. “Two series, I think it was a great time just getting back, getting a feel for the game. I think it was a good time to take me out right there. That's really all we needed."
The offensive star of the game for Green Bay was rookie running back Emmanuel Wilson, who carried the ball six times for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns, 80 of them on one scoring play.
Most of Cincinnati’s starters did not play, either. Trevor Simien took most of the snaps at quarterback, completing 15 of 28 passes for 121 yards and an interception.
After nearly a week in Cincinnati, the Packers come home in preparation for next Saturday’s Lambeau preseason opener against the New England Patriots. The two teams will hold open-to-the-public joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday.