GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love only had to take part in three plays Saturday in the Green Bay Packers’ 23-10 victory at Cleveland in the preseason opener. Love’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks was perfect. In and out and stay healthy.

Then the Packers turned the quarterback position over to second-year man Sean Clifford.

His task was clear. Convince General Manager Brian Gutekunst, head coach Matt LaFleur, quarterback coach Tom Clements and everyone else that Clifford is up to the task of being Love’s backup. 

When Love missed the first few days of training camp while his contract extension was being hammered out, Clifford didn’t exactly calm nerves with his performance. He seemed, perhaps understandably, to be forcing things.

Interceptions were too common.

Only nine NFL quarterbacks started every game last season. That’s less than a third of the league.

Love was one of them. We hope he can do that again, but if he can’t, the Packers need to be prepared. The stakes are higher this season.

Last season was largely viewed as a transition year. Because the Packers had success, Super Bowl aspirations are back on the table for this season.

That leaves little room for error. The backup quarterback must be good enough to hold down the fort and not lose games. Maybe he’s not the difference-maker in a win, but he can’t drag the whole team down, either.

It’s not an easy job. You can’t realistically expect the backup to be as good as Love. With that context, can Clifford be the backup again? Or do the Packers need to sign a veteran as insurance if something happens to Love?

Not that all questions were answered, but Clifford looked good on Saturday. He engineered a 13-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. For the game, he was 10 of 19 for 111 yards. Not gaudy numbers, but no interceptions. He played crisply and took care of the ball.

Maybe the final verdict has not been decided, but it was a strong opening statement by Clifford.