The Packers entered Week 8 with plenty of injury news and concerns on the docket, with kicker Brandon McManus trying to come back after missing two weeks with a quad injury, receiver Christian Watson making his 2025 debut after having ACL surgery in January and rookie receiver Matthew Golden playing through a hip injury.; But it was an injury suffered during the game that raised the most concerns among Green Bay observers.
That’s when tackle Zach Tom went down with an undisclosed injury. Tom lay on the turf for an extended length of time before he was helped off, leaving plenty of questions about how the team’s offensive line would handle losing him yet again–Tom has battled an oblique injury for much of the year and has missed two games and most of two others because of it.
But there was a major sigh of relief when Tom came back in, missing only one play despite what looked like a re-aggravation that could be a major issue.
Zach Tom Among Best Tackles in NFL
The return of Tom was big because he has been one of the best tackles in the NFL this season, and for an offensive line that has lacked consistency because of injuries and changes in personnel, having Tom on the field has been a bandage for the line’s other woes.
NFL writer Doug Farrar pointed out this week that the Packers metrics take a serious tumble as a whole when Tom does not play. The pressure rate on Jordan Love goes from 22.4% with Love to 40.4% without him. The sack percentage goes from 2.4% to 7.0%.
Despite playing hurt, Tom has a Pro Football Focus grade of 80.9 this season, which rates No. 6 among all tackles. The Packers, largely thanks to Tom, shut down Steelers star TJ Watt on Sunday, and Pittsburgh was held without a sack on the night. It was the first time this year that the Steelers did not get a sack and only the second time in the last two seasons.
Packers ‘Concerned’ With New Injury
The Packers did come out of Week 8 with a worrisome injury, though, as special-teamer Nick Niemann, who was claimed off waivers from the Texans before the start of the season, suffered a pectoral injury and was ruled out quickly thereafter on Sunday.
A torn pectoral muscle at this time of the year could spell the end of Neimann’s 2025 season.
“We’re concerned about it,” coach Matt LaFleur said Monday. He did not know the extent of the injury, though.
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