Packers Lose Lovett to Torn ACL

Playing in all eight games as a versatile tight end and fullback, the former college quarterback was tied for first with four tackles on special teams.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Tight end/fullback John Lovett will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reported.

Listed with a knee, Lovett was full participation on Wednesday’s injury report and limited on Thursday. The ACL happened at Thursday's practice, a source said.

He’s the third player lost to a torn ACL this season, following veteran guard Lane Taylor in Week 1 against Minnesota and rookie tight end Josiah Deguara at the end of the Week 4 game against Atlanta.

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It was the injury to Deguara that opened the door to more snaps for Lovett. In fact, he played a season-high 11 snaps on Thursday night against San Francisco. He even ended the game at running back, carrying three times for 6 yards. Playing in all eight games, he was fourth on the team with 112 snaps on special teams and tied for first with four tackles on special teams.

“I think he’s done an awesome job,” special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga said on Thursday. “He’s definitely a sparkplug for us and has developed into a good leader and plays extremely hard in every phase, and has the right mentality that we’re looking for for special teams. It didn’t really surprise me. We noticed him during camp and, even though he as a former quarterback, he definitely doesn’t play like that. He’s definitely got a defensive mentality and is physical in everything that he does and does everything the right way all the time. He’s been a great shot in the arm for us and love coaching him.”

Lovett, who was claimed off waivers from Kansas City just before the start of training camp, was a do-it-all quarterback at Princeton who quickly impressed as an H-back with the Chiefs last summer before a season-ending injury in training camp. Lovett was listed as a fullback by the Packers but spent drills with the tight ends. The Packers reclassified him upon adding him to the practice squad.

“Coming into my pro day, I actually did everything,” Lovett said during training camp. “I threw at my pro day. I also ran routes from the tight end position, from the backfield. So, I was going in with an open mind. My coach from college was telling me that a lot of teams expressed interest as that H-back position. My goal from when I was a little kid was to have a good NFL career. So, whatever the coaches were asking me to do, I was ready to go full-bore.”

As a potential replacement, the Packers signed tight end Dominique Dafney to the practice squad on Oct. 12. He started his career at Iowa Western Community College in 2016 and played special teams at Iowa in 2017 and 2018 before finishing his career at Indiana State in 2019. A receiver at Indiana State, Dafney ranked No. 2 on the team with 439 rushing yards after carrying the ball during the final four games of the season out of the wildcat package.