Tucker Kraft‘s season is over.
Tests confirmed that the Green Bay Packers‘ standout tight end suffered a torn ACL in their 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, ESPN reported.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love both feared that Kraft suffered a significant injury following Sunday’s game.
“It’s not looking good,” LaFleur told reporters.
“It’s tough to see anybody get injured, it’s tough to see Tuck injured on the ground,” said Love. “But you’re praying for him, hoping for the best, hoping it’s nothing too serious that he can come back from … you hate to see it.”
Kraft lined up left and was moving to his right behind the line of scrimmage to block for running back Josh Jacobs when he ran into the backside of Packers guard Sean Rhyan, who was blocking Panthers linebacker Nic Scourton on the play. After getting helped to the sideline, Kraft went into the blue injury tent. He then went directly from the tent to the cart.
Kraft has been among the league’s best tight ends this season. He ranked third in receiving yards (469) and second in receiving touchdowns (six) at the position ahead of Sunday’s NFL slate. Kraft, who turns 25 on Monday, entered this game with 30 catches — the most of any Packer this season. He was also coming off a career performance in which he had seven receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He’s just the third tight end in league 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 are Jimmy Graham (2013) and Rob Gronkowski (2015).
Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden also suffered a shoulder injury in Sunday’s game, forcing him to miss most of the second half.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
