The Green Bay Packers have their work cut out for them. Not only are they struggling to find momentum in Week 9 vs. the Carolina Panthers, but they’ve also lost their star tight end, Tucker Kraft, to a major knee injury. Kraft managed to walk off the field and into the blue medical tent with some assistance. But he had to be carted off the field shortly afterwards. And the injury prognosis doesn’t sound very encouraging. Dr. Jesse Morse summed it up in a post on X:

“Tucker Kraft. Right knee. Most likely MCL sprain + bone bruise, but could have stressed ACL &/or PCL here. The good news is that he walked off with assistance.”

Other sports doctors, like Deepak Chona and David Chao, also hinted that the injury could be an MCL sprain. For now, the Packers have listed him as ‘questionable’ for the rest of the game, but it doesn’t look like he will be returning for the game.

The injury happened on a 2nd-and-5 attempt at the Panthers’ 45-yard line. Kraft attempted a block while Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs made a play for 15 yards. Guard Sean Rhyan had already pinned down a Panthers defender when Kraft came close, and Rhyan’s leg hit Kraft’s knee, and the TE fell down clutching his right knee. Prior to this injury, Kraft had 20 yards across 2 carries.

With Tucker Kraft sidelined, tight ends John FitzPatrick and Luke Musgrave are the next men up on the depth chart. But can either of them back up Kraft’s production? Entering Week 9, Kraft had already proven himself as a reliable target for starting quarterback Jordan Love, with 30 catches for 469 yards and six touchdowns. If Kraft ends up missing time with this injury, the Packers’ offense has just been dealt a huge blow.

But Kraft’s knee injury isn’t the only grim news coming out of this Week 9 clash. The Packers are getting battered, bruised, and bullied by the Panthers in Lambeau Field.

UPDATE: The Packers have announced that Kraft will not return for the remainder of the game.

Injuries piling up for Jordan Love & Co. in Week 9

The tensions were already high with a brawl between the teams. The Panthers kept a lead all through the third quarter, entering the fourth with a 13-6 lead. But that was only the tip of the heartbreak. The Packers’ first injury update dropped with guard Aaron Banks getting marked as questionable with a stinger. Left defensive tackle Colby Wooden also got sidelined with a shoulder injury and was later ruled out.

Then came Tucker Kraft’s injury, after which rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden also left the field as questionable to return with a shoulder injury. With the fourth quarter winding down, both of them were ruled out. But all of these injuries did seem to have lit a fire in Lambeau.

The Packers, led by Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs, led a 71-yard, 12-play drive to tie the score at 13-13. But Carolina fought back harder and took the game away 16-13 with a 49-yard field goal with just a second left on the clock.

With this loss, the Packers now stand 5-2-1. Their next battle? The Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10. The bigger question now: will they be able to get back all their injured players by then? We’ll wait for the official injury reports to find out.