Packers star tight end Tucker Kraft carted off field with knee injury

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers may have to get accustomed to playing without star tight end Tucker Kraft for a significant length of time.

Kraft was carted off the field after suffering a knee injury in the third quarter of the Packers’ 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he had no specific update on Kraft’s situation but sounded pessimistic about it after the game.

“It doesn’t look good,” LaFleur said. “It’s going to be tough, but it’s football. Other guys are going to have to step up.”

Kraft, who turns 25 on Monday, was on pace to have one of the most productive seasons of any tight end in Packers history before this injury. He has 32 catches for 489 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Packers (5-2-1) in the latter two categories.

He headed into Sunday’s game as just the third tight end in NFL history to have at least 30 receptions, 450 yards receiving and six touchdown catches while averaging 15.5-plus yards per reception in the first seven games of a season. The others were Jimmy Graham in 2013 and Rob Gronkowski in 2015.

“I don’t know what’s going on with him so I can’t really all the way speak on it, but I know who he is for this team and what he means for this team,” running back Josh Jacobs said. “That’s a heavy blow for us. A lot of guys even in the locker room and even in the huddle afterward, we felt that. He’s a leader on this team. He’s a captain, and he’s one of those guys that you really love to have on your team.”

Kraft lined up left and was moving to his right behind the line of scrimmage when he ran into the backside of Packers guard Sean Rhyan, who was blocking Carolina’s Nic Scourton on the play.

“I got cut on my pull, so I don’t know what happened,” Rhyan said. “All I know is that (Scourton’s) helmet was into my knees. He went low on me, so I had to try to avoid my knees getting clipped out, too. So it’s one of those things of terrible circumstances and … just didn’t come out right for us.”

After getting helped to the sideline, Kraft went into the blue injury tent. He then went directly from the injury tent to the cart.

“Anytime it’s a knee injury, it’s hard not to think of the worst-case scenario,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “It’s tough to see anybody get injured. It’s tough to see Tuck injured on the ground. But you’re praying for him, hoping for the best, hoping it’s nothing too serious that he can come back from.”

Kraft had been emerging as one of the game’s top tight ends. He was coming off a two-touchdown performance in which he had seven catches for 143 yards while helping the Packers win 35-25 at Pittsburgh.

The only tight ends with more yards receiving since 2024 entering Sunday were Arizona’s Trey McBride, Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce.

Kraft’s likely absence will put more of a responsibility on 25-year-old tight end Luke Musgrave. The Packers took both tight ends in the 2023 draft, as they selected Musgave out of Oregon State in the second round before choosing Kraft out of South Dakota State in the third.

Musgrave had three catches for 34 yards Sunday to improve his season totals to nine receptions for 88 yards. Injuries limited Musgrave to 11 games in 2023 and seven games last season, but he’s been available for every game so far this season.

“It’s going to be tough (being without Kraft), but you’ve got to attack it head on, and we’ve got to do a great job of putting our guys in good positions to showcase what they can do,” LaFleur said. “Luke’s played a ton of ball for us, and he’s going to get more of an opportunity.”

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