James Franklin confirmed that he discussed the matter with Shorter, but he didn't provide any information on the matter outside of that.
Clifford went down with what seemed to be a right leg injury in last Saturday's game against Ohio State.
Chris Godwin's monster game headlines this week's performances.
The award is annually given to college football's most outstanding linebacker.
Penn State moved up one spot from its previous ranking of No. 8, which the team had held for three consecutive weeks.
The Nittany Lions haven't received votes in the AP Top 25 poll since February 2018.