The Packers‘ red zone fumble from rookie receiver Savion Williams was not a highlight, nor were the two other red-zone drives that yielded field goals, and neither was the missed field from Brandon McManus or the deep interception by Jordan Love in the third quarter. So much went wrong over the first three quarters of the Packers’ Week 9 showdown with the Panthers at Lambeau Field on Sunday, but the biggest source of angst was what happened off the field.
Namely, the angst came as tight end Tucker Kraft was carted off to the locker room after a knee injury on the opening drive. The Packers can withstand a poor effort against a game Panthers bunch, but a long-term injury to their best offensive playmaker this season is an especially damaging development.
Kraft left the game after an awkward collision with offensive lineman Sean Rhyan on a 15-yard run by Josh Jacobs with 12:32 to go in the third quarter. Kraft had two catches for 20 yards on the day.
Tucker Kraft Subject of Major Concern
There will be testing and further diagnosis yet to come for Kraft, but the early indications weren’t very positive. While doctors who diagnose injuries off replays are obviously limited in their available information, the consensus appeared to be that the best outcome for Kraft is an MCL injury that could see him return relatively soon.
Doctor of physical therapy Jeff Mueller wrote on Twitter/X, “Definite concern on Right MCL sprain. Hoping the angle of impact avoided trauma to his ACL. I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t lead to some missed time.”
Another DPT, Tom Christ, wrote much the same: “His teammate accidentally kicks the outside of his right knee at the exact same time his foot plants and knee is fully extended creating a significant valgus force. Certainly concern for MCL injury, ACL possible too. Let’s hope not though.”
Packers Could Look to Luke Musgrave
Kraft has been a revelation in this, his third NFL season, as he entered the game with 30 catches and 469 yards on the season, plus six touchdowns. He rates No. 3 among tight end in yardage and No. 2 in touchdowns this season. He is ranked the No. 2 tight end among players with at least 250 snaps this season at Pro Football Focus, behind Sam LaPorta of Detroit.
The Packers do have 2023 second-round pick Luke Musgrave on the roster, though he has yet to live up to his billing entering the league and has just six catches for 54 yards this season.
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