Packers Activate Kraft, Who Will Be Worked Back Slowly

After missing the first 10 practices of Packers training camp, Tucker Kraft will be challenged to get back on track following a torn pectoral, coach Matt LaFleur said before practice on Tuesday.

Bill Huber | Aug 6, 2024

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft celebrates after last year's playoff win at the Dallas Cowboys. / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft will be worked back slowly after being activated from the physically unable to perform list on Monday.

“I think that’s usually the best course of action,” coach Matt LaFleur said before Tuesday’s Packers training camp practice. “We’ve got a good plan for him. It’s just good to get him out there.

Kraft missed the first 10 practices of camp after suffering a torn pectoral that “popped right off the bone” while bench pressing. The Packers will practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week before facing the Cleveland Browns in their preseason opener on Saturday afternoon.

He will not play against the Browns. Nor will right tackle Zach Tom, whose comeback from his own torn pectoral will progress to 11-on-11 reps this week.

After barely playing to start the year, Kraft had a strong rookie season. The third-round pick caught 31 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns. Among rookie tight ends in Packers history, Kraft finished third in receptions and second in yards. Almost all that production came during the second half of the season, with 28 receptions for 344 yards during the final eight games.

Kraft played with impressive physicality as a blocker and receiver. That was his calling card at South Dakota State. It was fair to wonder if his physical domination would translate to the superior competition he’d face in the NFL.

It did.

Among the 45 tight ends who were targeted at least 30 times, Kraft’s 7.5 yards after the catch per catch was best in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Everyone was wrong. Anyone who tries to shove that small-school narrative, they can put it where the sun don’t shine,” Kraft said during OTAs. “We’re football players. We’re playing the same game. You rise to the ability of the people around you. I was out there dominating the FCS level, but you turn the film on here, the NFL is not that hard of a game if you’re locked into your techniques and you know your offense well enough.”

Kraft enters this season with lofty goals – not necessarily as a receiver but as a blocker.

“I’m just ready to take off in this league and establish myself as a football player, really. That’s where my frustration lies,” Kraft told Packers On SI at the start of OTAs.

“I was really excited about this offseason – to have the whole offseason – to get running off the football again, get my second step down, my landmark. What I want to establish this year is I want to be the best Y in the outside zone – running the ball at the tight end. That’s my individual goal for the season. That just opens up so many avenues.”

Having missed two weeks of training camp, Kraft will be in catch-up mode.

“I think it’s definitely an obstacle,” LaFleur said. “It’s definitely a challenge. But I think he’s ready to meet that challenge head on. This guy, from the time he’s gotten here to right now, I mean, he’s never shied away from work and he’ll do everything in his power to become the best player that he can become.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

Two weeks of #Packers training camp is complete. Now begins the three-week sprint to the Aug. 27 roster cuts.

Here is my second 53-man projection. ⬇️https://t.co/EzkYZTlLiI
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 5, 2024

Published Aug 6, 2024

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.