MINNEAPOLIS — Clayton Tune found out he’d be starting on Wednesday afternoon from his coaches. The Green Bay Packers third-string quarterback’s parents didn’t find out until … 

… well, Tune’s not exactly sure when or how they found out. Because they didn’t find out from him.

“I actually haven’t told them,” Tune confessed sheepishly on Thursday afternoon — after he already knew that his mom and dad, one of his brothers and two of his nephews had already booked travel to the Twin Cities to see him make his second career NFL regular-season start as the Packers (9-6-1) close out the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings (8-8) at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“I think they just knew. I think they just kind of suspected and booked travel plans on their own.”

How Tune will fare against the Vikings’ Brian Flores-coordinated defense — a unit that has made far more accomplished quarterbacks look foolish this season — no one knows.

But with the Packers locked into their playoff position as the NFC’s No. 7 seed — meaning they’ll face either the Chicago Bears (11-5) or the Philadelphia Eagles (11-5) in the wild-card round, depending on which of those teams — they want to bubble-wrap starting quarterback Jordan Love until postseason play begins, even though Love cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol during the week and is off the injury report.

And with backup Malik Willis listed as questionable with right shoulder and hamstring injuries, the game represents a golden opportunity for Tune to bolster his chances of being back next season to compete for the top backup job behind Love if Willis departs in free agency for a potential starting role elsewhere.

“He’s the guy that’s shown some pretty good promise in terms of what we’ve seen. So, what an opportunity for him,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said of Tune. “I think he started one other game in his career, so it’s going to be great for everybody to see what we can go out there and do.”

Added Love: “Man, I hope Clayton goes out there and balls. I expect him to go out there and lead the boys and put his best foot forward. He’s been doing some great things in practice, he’s been locked in all week.

“At the end of the day, we know the defense we’re going against. It’s a lot for anybody. So there’s definitely a lot on his plate, and I think he’s done a great job handling it this week.”

And Love’s advice? “Just go out there, play free, play loose. and I hope he balls out.”

Here are three other aspects of the game worth watching:

1️⃣ — DIGGING HIS NEW FOOTBALL HOME?

Although Trevon Diggs insisted he wasn’t thinking any further down the road than this game, he knows the Packers’ decision to claim him on waivers from the Dallas Cowboys is more than just a chance to rejuvenate his career. It’s also a chance to find a long-term opportunity with a team that already has his football BFF (Micah Parsons) and two ex-Alabama teammates (Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs) in the locker room.

Whether he can recapture his 2021 form, when he led the NFL in interceptions (11) and was a first-team All-Pro, remains to be seen. But he’ll definitely have a chance to help the Packers over the next few weeks, and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley expects Diggs to play against the Vikings.

“I want to be here as long as they want me to be here. For sure,” Diggs said. “You know, I like it here a lot. I’ve got relationships here already, and I would love to call this place home.”

2️⃣— GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY?

Rookie first-round draft pick Matthew Golden’s first NFL season has not been remotely as productive as his fellow first-round wideouts or as he’d hoped. He enters the game with 28 receptions for 353 yards — and without his first NFL touchdown. 

He’ll get one last chance at that in this game — and it’ll be with Tune, who was his quarterback at the University of Houston for his freshman season with the Cougars. After Tune left for the NFL and Golden played a second season in Houston, he transferred to the University of Texas.

“It was my senior year, his freshman year,” Tune said. “We have a connection. It’s funny, when I got here not a lot of people knew that, because they always know Golden as the UT receiver. But I tell guys, even when he was a freshman — he was young, 17, 18 years old — he was balling, making plays. He was a big part of our offense that year.”

He has not, however, been a big part of the Packers’ offense this year. And while offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said Golden is working his way up the receiver pecking order — “I think Golden’s got a really bright future, but I think right now, just with the way the room is, he’s not going to be in that premier role when the playoffs come around,” Stenavich said — LaFleur insisted it’s not too late for Golden to have an impact.

“Not many rookie players, especially first-rounders, come into a situation where there’s a bunch of guys who have established themselves a little bit. Each game there’s a different guy that’s going to lead us in receiving,” LaFleur said. “[But] I think MG’s done an outstanding job. He has got a ton of upside. I love how he approaches the game, and he’ll continue to learn and get better and better and better.”

3️⃣ — WORKING AHEAD

With Love set to sit this one out — be it in uniform as the No. 2 behind Tune or inactive — the Packers coaches had him working through Bears and Eagles film so he could get a jump on his preparation for the playoff opener, regardless of who the opponent will be.

So while Love will be spending the game helping Tune any way he can, if there’s a moment when the CBS cameras catch him staring off into space, it might be because he’s mulling over what he’ll face from the Chicago or Philadelphia defenses a week from now.

“Obviously, if I was starting this game, I’d be preparing and having all my focus on this week. This is a defense that you’ve got to have a lot of focus [against],” Love said of the Vikings. “[But] if you can get ahead and start looking at other teams, it definitely helps out.

“It’s tough when you don’t know exactly who it is, but you kind of get a good idea who it might be, so you starting watching some stuff and just get ahead on that game plan.”

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