Packers Signing Tight End Joel Wilson to Practice Squad

The Green Bay Packers had only three tight ends on the practice field for Monday with Luke Musgrave and Josiah Deguara sidelined by injuries.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With two front-line players sidelined by injuries, the Green Bay Packers are signing tight end Joel Wilson to the practice squad, a source told Packer Central.

In a related move, the Packers released undrafted rookie cornerback Anthony Johnson; not to be confused with rookie safety Anthony Johnson.

Starter Luke Musgrave, who was on the cusp of hitting Packers rookie tight ends records for receptions and yards, suffered a kidney injury against the Chargers. He is on injured reserve and there’s a chance he will miss the rest of the season. Fourth-year pro Josiah Deguara, who serves in more of a fullback role, was inactive against Detroit with a hip injury.

Against the Lions, the Packers had only three rookies – third-round pick Tucker Kraft, undrafted free agent Ben Sims and undrafted free agent Henry Pearson, who helped fill Deguara’s role.

Those were the only tight ends at practice on Monday, as well.

As part of a strong class of tight ends, Wilson went undrafted this year. During his final two years at Central Michigan, he caught 75 passes for 802 yards and 12 touchdowns. That includes 44 catches for 445 yards and six touchdowns with zero drops as a senior.

At pro day, he measured 6-foot-3 5/8 and 242 pounds. He did not run a 40 and had a RAS of 4.32.

“It’s a blessing to come out here after having the injury that I did. To come out here and feel great moving around and everything,” Wilson said at pro day. “The one thing that I didn’t do was the 40 [yard dash]. But aside from that everything felt really good. No pain and I’m starting to feel like myself again.”

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Wilson spent a couple weeks with the Saints after the draft, then joined the Bills during OTAs. He was released at the end of training camp and spent the past couple months on their practice squad.

Wilson was among three tight ends who worked out for the team on Tuesday.

At Petosky (Mich.) High School, Wilson was a third-team all-state quarterback who finished his career ranked second in school history in passing yards and passing touchdowns. CMU gave him a Division I offer as a tight end.

“He played out of position in high school,” said then-CMU coach John Bonamego, a former Packers special teams coordinator. “We had him in one of our one-day camps and towards the end of the day we had him run some (tight end) routes in one-on-one.

“It was probably the best investment the kid and family ever made was $50 to send him to the camp because it sold us on him.”

As for Musgrave, who suffered a lacerated kidney, coach Matt LaFleur said he’s “hopeful” he will return to action this season.

“I know if it’s up to Luke, he’ll be back. It’s just whether or not he’s fully healed,” LaFleur said. “This guy is, he is as tough as they come now. I have not been around many guys that will compete at the level that he competes and not being always 100 percent.

“I referenced the Denver game earlier this year, his ability to come back after a week, which blew my mind, because I thought there was no way he was playing, whoever we played after that. But I thought there was no chance he was going to play in that game, and he did. I think that just speaks to his competitiveness and the desire he has to be out there on that football field.”

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