New England Patriots release quarterback Trace McSorley

Ahead of the NFL’s deadline to reduce rosters to 53 men, the New England Patriots released former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley on Monday, according to Tom Pelissero.

With Trace McSorley gone, the Patriots are moving forward with Mac Jones as starter, followed by Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham, an undrafted free agent out of Louisville. New England has a 19-year streak of keeping at least one undrafted free agent on the roster and could keep it going if they leave Cunningham on the 53-man.

McSorley, a sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, began his career with the Baltimore Ravens. He’s played in nine career regular-season games so far for both the Ravens and Arizona Cardinals.

Last season for Arizona, McSorley had 45 completions on 83 attempts for 412 yards and five interceptions. In preseason action for the Patriots, he posted four yards on one completion with three attempts.

Now that he’s off of the Patriots’ roster, another team can pick up the former Nittany Lion for the 2023 season.

The Patriots have two more days to narrow down the player roster from 90 to just 53 men for the 2023 season. Even as they make cuts and reduce the roster to the 53-man roster, the personnel office will continue to evaluate the talent inside – and outside – the building until Week 1 games kick off.

The NFL changed the deadlines for this season, eliminating the additional cut dates leading up to the reduction to 53 players.

Former Penn State QB Sean Clifford named Packers backup

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur announced on Thursday that quarterback Sean Clifford will serve as the team’s backup behind starter Jordan Love. Clifford was battling for the position with former FIU quarterback Alex McGough.

The former fifth-round pick out of Penn State has 345 passing yards, two interceptions and one touchdown so far this preseason for the Packers. In his most recent outing, a loss versus the Patriots, he went 13-for-19 with 137 yards.

Clifford struggled initially in his NFL debut versus the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing a pick-six to Tycen Anderson. He also threw another interception to Anderson later in the game. But he rebounded nicely in the second quarter, making a nice run, then tossing a six-yard touchdown toss to Tyler Davis right before halftime, to give the Packers the lead.

The 6-foot-2, 218-pound QB went No. 149 overall to Green Bay in the 2023 NFL Draft.