The Green Bay Packers have confirmed the worst for at least one of the players who suffered an injury in Week 16’s fall-apart loss to the Chicago Bears.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Packers tight end John FitzPatrick suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in the 22-16 overtime loss to the Bears on December 20.
FitzPatrick went down with a non-contact injury while run-blocking for rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden on a 3-yard run to the outside early in the fourth quarter. He tried to stand but could not, prompting the Packers to cart him off to the locker room.
“Tests today confirmed that Packers TE John FitzPatrick tore his Achilles during Saturday’s 22-16 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears, per sources,” Schefter wrote on X during Sunday Night Football on December 21. “The Packers have now lost two TEs, Tucker Kraft and FitzPatrick to season-ending injuries.”
FitzPatrick had played significantly more offensive snaps for the Packers over the past seven weeks following Kraft’s season-ending ACL tear in Week 9’s loss to Carolina. He had even outsnapped Luke Musgrave — a 2023 second-round pick — in four of the last six games heading into Week 16’s showdown with the Bears at Soldier Field.
Now, Musgrave is the only healthy tight end on Green Bay’s 53-man roster. The Packers also have Josh Whyle, but he is in concussion protocol and did not play in Chicago.
Packers Could Promote TE Help From Practice Squad
The Packers are in a difficult spot at tight end with Kraft and FitzPatrick finished for the season and Whyle’s status up in the air for the final two weeks, but head coach Matt LaFleur seems convinced their practice squad can offer them some reinforcements.
“It’s less than ideal,” LaFleur said in Week 16’s postgame. “I’m certain that [general manager Brian] Gutey [Gutekunst] and I will have some conversations, probably on the plane, in regards to what we’ve got to do. I feel like we’ve got some guys capable on our P-squad, and so we’ll take a look at that and we’ll come up with a solution.”
The Packers signed two tight ends — second-year McCallan Castles and rookie Drake Dabney — to their practice squad on November 4, the same day on which they placed Kraft on season-ending injured reserve and signed Whyle to the 53-man roster. At this point, though, neither one of them has played a single regular-season NFL snap.
Based on LaFleur’s comments, though, expect the Packers to sign one of them to their 53-man roster when they inevitably place FitzPatrick on injured reserve this week.
Would Packers Consider Reunion With Marcedes Lewis?
The Packers may decide that an internal practice-squad promotion is all they need to reinforce their banged-up tight end position. But if they are seeking alternatives, then the Denver Broncos might have a familiar option sitting on their practice squad.
Former Packers tight end Marcedes Lewis, who played 81 games for them over five seasons, is currently available for poaching from the Broncos’ practice squad, if the Packers are willing to sign him to the 53-man roster and keep him into the playoffs.
NFL rules dictate that players signed from another team’s practice squad must remain on the new team’s active roster for a minimum of three weeks, or at least receive three weeks’ worth of pay if waived by the team. In other words, the Packers would need to be ready to pay Lewis for the next three weeks to call upon his services again in 2025.
That might not be something the Packers are willing to consider. Not only does the front office rarely bring back former players under Gutekunst, but Lewis has started to fade in terms of his NFL prowess — which is reasonable, as he turns 42 in five months.
Even still, the option is out there if the Packers want to reunite with Lewis.
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