GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Those who have been surprised by Green Bay Packers rookie quarterback Sean Clifford and his throw-caution-to-the-wind approach to the position should have talked to Justin Hollins first.

The Packers’ fifth-year linebacker wouldn’t say he told you so, but he at least had an inkling -- maybe not that through two preseason games Clifford would have led the NFL in passing yards per game and rank third in completion percentage, but that the fifth-round draft pick, the 11th quarterback selected this year, could play.

Full disclosure, Hollins had some inside information.

“One of my old roommates in college was his equipment manager at Penn State,” Hollins said. “He had given me a heads up about Sean.”

It’s one thing to hear about it second hand from Austin Cruz, the Nittany Lions' director of football equipment, who previously worked at Hollins’ alma mater the University of Oregon.

“But I’ve seen it,” Hollins said. “I’ve seen him make plays. I’ve seen him stand in the pocket, I’ve seen him stand in there and take a couple of hits with confidence -- the confidence you want to see in your quarterback. I love to see him just being a little more comfortable than most people as a rookie would be.”

It didn’t take long for Clifford to convince the Packers that bringing in a veteran to back up first-year starter Jordan Love would not be necessary.

The 6-foot-2, 218-pound Clifford, who was named the No. 2 quarterback by coach Matt LaFleur Thursday, picked things up almost from the get-go in rookie minicamp.

By OTAs, he said he felt comfortable with LaFleur’s offense.

By the first week of training camp, he had passed Danny Etling on the quarterback depth chart. Etling, who spent all of last season on the Packers’ practice squad, was released on Aug. 6.

By the end of the preseason opener, despite two interceptions against the Bengals (including a pick-six), he had stolen the show -- for one night anyway -- from Love, who played only two series against Cincinnati.

Clifford said he didn't start to feel comfortable until midway through the offseason program and wasn't really sure of himself until the Bengals game -- as if that meant he was slow to adjust.

"I think people are lying if they say that the minute they step into an NFL locker room they know that they can do this," Clifford said. "I do think you do need to kinda do it and you’ve got to prove it yourself."

Said Love: “I was just telling him the other day, he picked up the offense so much faster than I did my rookie year."

It’s all added up to 33-of-45 passing for 345 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the two preseason games. And it’s not just in the games, either.

His improvisational skills have come to light during the two-minute drills LaFleur runs to end most practices. In the Packers’ final practice of training camp this week, Clifford led the No. 2 offense to a drive-winning score with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Grant DuBose down the seam between a pair of defensive backs, followed by a two-point conversation pass to Duece Watts on a designed sprint-out right play.

He has regularly made one of the hardest drills for a quarterback look routine.

No one has suggested that Clifford has a brighter future than Love, and in a couple of weeks, Clifford’s responsibilities will change. He’ll go from trying to prove he can play in the league to making sure he can give Love all the support the starting quarterback needs. It was for that reason that some thought Love needed a veteran backup.

“My job when I was a backup was, just be the eyes for Aaron [Rodgers] from the sideline,” Love said. “Obviously he sees a lot, he knows what’s going on most of the time in the game -- but just be those eyes when he comes back to the sideline, be able to communicate what happened, if you might have missed a look, maybe tell him a guy was open or whatnot.

“The same things me and Sean will talk about that I’ll ask from him. Just communication during games, just help prepare me for going into the week, but also his job’s preparing himself as well. Get ready. God forbid what might happen, but he’s got himself ready as well.”

That might seem overwhelming for a rookie quarterback, but Clifford isn’t the average NFL newcomer. He’s 25 years old, played five seasons at Penn State and started 46 games. He left college with school records for passing yards, touchdowns and wins.

And he comes with the kind of confidence not seen from a young quarterback around here since, perhaps, 30 years ago with Brett Favre.

“That’s one thing that I will say, although I am a rookie, I have played a lot,” Clifford said. “So I do know what I’m doing. The NFL’s still new, and I’m still going to make a lot of mistakes when it comes to the speed but when it comes to playing football, I do know a thing or two.”

It was how Clifford responded to a couple of mistakes that may have showed the most about him. Despite his two interceptions against the Bengals, he completed 20 of 26 passes for 208 yards with a touchdown. It included a scrambling 28-yard completion to Samori Toure that was Favre-esque in the way he threw across his body while moving to his left.

Same thing a week later against the Patriots when he boldly threw into double coverage down the middle of the field and hit Malik Heath for a 25-yard gain.

“He seems like he’s mature beyond his years,” Toure said. “Like you saw in Cincy, being able to make plays up that are off schedule like the one he had to me rolling out. I feel like he goes through his progressions pretty well, and I feel like he trusts his receivers. You saw that pass he threw to Malik, that’s a risky pass and you’ve got to have some trust to be able to do that.”

In return, Clifford has earned trust of his own.

“Even if he messes up -- he throws a pick -- it seems like he’s unfazed,” Hollins said. “He’s just on to the next play. He’s like, ‘Whatever. C’mon, let’s get this going.’”