The Green Bay Packers will be without Luke Musgrave against the Detroit Lions after he suffered a “significant” abdomen injury in Sunday’s win over Los Angeles. This means the Packers will be relying heavily on rookies Tucker Kraft and Ben Sims.
“Obviously, a significant blow for us offensively,” coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday. “Like we always talk about, it’s going to be opportunities for these other guys, for Tucker, for Ben, to really show what they can do.”
Over the course of the season, Kraft has seen his role expand within the offense. In the last three games, he has played 28-plus snaps in each and averaged 24 snaps over the previous six games compared to just 9.5 in the first four games.
Kraft’s role has primarily come as a blocker up to this point where he has steadily improved throughout the year. Against the Chargers, we also saw Kraft’s explosiveness on display with his yards after the catch ability, something that was a staple of his game in college at South Dakota State.
“I was extremely happy,” said LaFleur of Kraft’s performance on Sunday. “I think Tucker you can see the growth in him. Making a huge play on a simple flat route. Just showing his athleticism. His speed. But I think a lot of things you guys don’t always see, just how much growth he’s had in the run game as well as a blocker has been evident. Certainly going to be more on his plate in this game.”
Like Musgrave, Kraft brings good size and athleticism to the position. From a passing game standpoint, where these two players excel is different, however. Musgrave is a field-stretcher and can bring a vertical presence to the offense, while Kraft’s bread-and-butter has been more short-area throws with YAC potential.
But just because a player hasn’t been asked to do something doesn’t mean they can’t either. With Kraft sliding into that TE1 role and going to be needed to impact the passing game much more on intermediate routes and from the boundary, Sims will likely fill in as more of the blocker, similar to what Kraft has been asked to do up to this point in the season.
While the gameplan and what’s asked of the tight ends with and without Musgrave won’t be identical, for the most part, Green Bay’s overall plan of attack is going to be relatively the same this Thursday in Detroit.
“A little bit,” said Adam Stenavich when asked if changes to the game plan needed to be made. “Luke definitely adds a piece, but Tucker is very capable. Ben is coming along. There’s somethings you probably won’t do, but for the most part, we can keep rolling with what we are doing.”
This is a ferocious Lions defense, specifically the front seven, that the Green Bay tight ends and the offense as a whole is going to have to contend with. They’ve been one of the best against the run, have been excellent at generating pressure, and do a great job of disguising looks with different personnel and blitz packages to cause confusion for the offense.
Kraft and Sims are going to have to play key roles as blockers, and I would imagine they’ll also be options in the quick passing game – especially with the injuries at receiver the Packers are dealing with – to get the ball out of Jordan Love’s hands, as well as the check down option when Love’s initial reads aren’t available.
Along with Musgrave, the Packers could also be without Josiah Deguara, who is dealing with a hip injury he suffered on Sunday. Deguara did not practice on Monday or Tuesday, making his status for Thursday’s game very much up in the air.
Green Bay can’t go into Thursday’s game with only two tight ends, and it is too late to bring in an outside addition. It’s not as if there is a Patrick Taylor-like player out there on another practice squad. My guess is that fullback Henry Pearson is either a practice squad elevation or signed to the 53-man roster if Musgrave goes to IR. He can fill a role similar to what Deguara does.
NFL teams never want to be short-handed, but for this Packers team that was bullied in Week 4 by Detroit, that feels especially true with this opponent on the schedule. However, with every challenge comes an opportunity, and as LaFleur mentioned on Tuesday, Kraft now has the opportunity to show what he can really do.
“I think every week he’s been getting better and better and better,” added Stenavich. “He’s gotten more playing time and more opportunities. It’s going to be really cool seeing him take the reins and be the guy.”