Packers TE Luke Musgrave clears concussion protocol
The Green Bay Packers will have their starting tight end against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. This Thursday, Luke Musgrave cleared the concussion protocol and will be available to play in Week 5. Musgrave has been an essential piece of the Packers' young offense, and he suffered a concussion during the loss to […]
The Green Bay Packers will have their starting tight end against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. This Thursday, Luke Musgrave cleared the concussion protocol and will be available to play in Week 5.
Musgrave has been an essential piece of the Packers' young offense, and he suffered a concussion during the loss to the Detroit Lions, which explains why it was statistically his worst game of the season, so far.
Drafted by Green Bay in the second round, Musgrave immediately became the starter, a position he's held since organized team activities. Through his first four games, the rookie tight end has had 12 catches for 125 yards. That means he is on pace to reach 531 yards in the season, which would be the franchise record for rookie tight ends — the current record is from Bubba Franks, who got 363 receiving yards in 2000.
It's not usual for first-year tight ends to have such a big impact, as it's widely perceived as one of the hardest positions to make a transition from college to the NFL. Throughout camp, though, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made it clear that the plan was to feed Musgrave.
"He's a really, really intelligent player," LaFleur stressed. "If he makes a mistake, he hasn't made many of the same mistakes twice because he's super into it."
And it's not just the mental part. Even if the connection with quarterback Jordan Love isn't yet where it may be eventually, the tight end's athletic ability is impressive.
"He does have an elite trait, that he can flat fly. And he's a big, long target,” LaFleur added. "We're really excited about him and the progress he's made up to this point, and we have to keep pushing him."
The Monday game will be the first time in which the Packers offense will have RB1, WR1, and TE1 available at the same time, as Green Bay hasn't had Aaron Jones, Christian Watson, and Luke Musgrave together this season. That's an explosive combination, especially against the Raiders, who are the 28th defense by DVOA.
Injury updates
Left guard Elgton Jenkins, who came back to practice earlier this week, practiced again on Thursday and is on track to be back on the field after missing the games against the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions. However, right guard Jon Runyan didn't practice again, so there's a chance Royce Newman will be kept as a starter for Monday night.
The Packers haven't had their ideal offensive line lineup since week 1, and they probably won't have it anytime soon, as All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari is on the injured reserve and is expected to miss the rest of the season. But Jenkins is the second most important piece of the line, and his availability is imperative for a unit coming from its worst game of the year against the Lions.
Three other players didn't practice, and two of them are starters: linebacker De'Vondre Campbell, who's already missed the Lions game, and safety Rudy Ford.
The third DNP was safety and special teamer Zayne Anderson. He hasn't played a single down for the Packers yet, after being claimed off waivers from the Buffalo Bills on August 31. Anderson was inactive for the first games and has handled a hamstring injury for the last couple of weeks.
Luke Musgrave can do something no Packers rookie has ever done
This almost seems like a lock for the Packers’ 42nd pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
