Packers roster move suggests Green Bay might not feel great about Jordan Love's status

In the run-up to the Green Bay Packers' Wild Card Weekend showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles, the million-dollar question revolves around the status of Jordan Love and his banged-up throwing arm. Did Love leave Green Bay's Week 18 loss to the Chicago Bears simply as a precaution, or is there something significant there? Is his elbow injury — which apparently caused him to lose feeling in his throwing hand — serious, or nothing to worry about?

Over the last few days, it's become clear that the Packers don't feel like saying. Love himself has played coy with reporters earlier in the week, while Matt LaFleur hasn't been much better. Amid all the subterfuge, it's been tough to tell what's real and what's gamesmanship. On Saturday, though, the team may have tipped its hand: According to the NFL Network's Mike Garafola, Green Bay has promoted QB Sean Clifford from the practice squad to the active roster.

Packers add Sean Clifford to active roster as Jordan Love insurance

This isn't necessarily a sign that the team isn't sure about Love's ability to start and play the entirety of Sunday's game. Green Bay had an open roster spot, NFL rules give them the ability to carry a third quarterback as an emergency option who won't count toward the 48-player gameday limit. If the Packers didn't have anything else to do with the extra room, why not play it safe?

At the same time, it's hard to argue that Green Bay would feel compelled to do this if they didn't have at least some small concern that Love's injury might flare up again in Philly. Or just that Love might get banged up again in some other way, following a regular season in which he struggled to stay healthy — starting with a knee injury suffered in the season opener against the Eagles in Brazil.

The Packers and their fans sure hope they won't have to see Clifford take a meaningful snap on Sunday, and it would still be a shock if Love weren't the one running out there with the Green Bay offense to start the game. This does show that it's at least on the team's mind, though, and that should give everyone pause ahead of what figures to be a very physical game against one of the best defenses in the NFL.