Packers Tucker Kraft Knee Injury a Potentially Devastating Blow in Week 9
Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 02: Tucker Kraft #85 of the Green Bay Packers is helped off the field with an injury in the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers in the game at Lambeau Field on November 02, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
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.
Cowboys Urged to Make Trade With ‘Wide Open’ Playoff Race
Getty
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Drake Maye.
Of all the weeks to be playing on Monday Night Football, Week 9 seems like the perfect setup for the Dallas Cowboys as far as understanding what might be gained with a win over the struggling Arizona Cardinals.
The Cowboys got to sit home on Sunday and watch one potential NFC playoff team after another fall — specifically 2 teams right ahead of them with upsets of the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. That means the Cowboys, who are 3-4-1, can actually gain significant ground by beating the Cardinals.
It also put the Cowboys in a position where they almost have to make a move ahead of the NFL trade deadline on November 4.
“Both Green Bay and Detroit lost today, the Cowboys hopes remain in a parity filled NFC where there is no juggernaut,” Cowboys reporter Clarence Hill Jr. wrote on his official X account. “It’s wide open as it’s ever been. Jerry Jones should make a trade.”
According to NFL.com’s latest playoff picture update, the Cowboys are just one game out of taking the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC from the Lions.
The Cowboys’ NFC East rivals and the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles currently hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC while the Indianapolis Colts currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Cowboys Have
If we were doing a draft in which we got to pick NFL offenses, you can make a good argument for taking the Cowboys at No. 1 overall.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been playing at an NFL MVP level for most of the season to go with an elite offensive line, above average running back in free agent Javonte Williams, a pair of Top 5 wide receivers in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and what looks like another Pro Bowl season from tight end Jake Ferguson.
The problem is the defense. They’re terrible.
The Cowboys are ranked 31st out of 32 NFL teams in team defense and are giving up just a shade over 400 yards per game.
Which Players Fit Cowboys Best in Trade
The Cowboys are in desperate need of an elite pass rusher, with fans pining for either Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson or Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
“If the Raiders don’t want to trade Crosby and he doesn’t want to get moved, that should end the trade talk around him,” Heavy’s Austin Boyd wrote on October 26. “There will likely continue to be rumors, but it looks like a certainty that Crosby will still be on the Raiders’ roster at the end of the season.
Crosby, who signed a 3-year, $106.5 million contract extension in March, has indicated he doesn’t want to leave Las Vegas.
“So the Raiders told them, they’re not moving him, but also Maxx Crosby said, ‘I don’t want to go anywhere,’” Jay Glazer said on “Fox NFL Sunday.” “There was one team that called me and said, ‘Hey, could you find out?’ I said, ‘Nope, he doesn’t want to go,’ and a team said, ‘Man, we love him because of his loyalty. Wish he wasn’t, though.’”
