GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft believes he was playing as well as anyone at his position when he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament last November.
He sees no reason why that should change once he’s back on the field — and he believes that return ought to come as soon as Green Bay’s Sept. 13 season opener at Minnesota.
“I’m not really buying into the (idea that) people come back off an injury and aren’t the same,” Kraft said Wednesday during mandatory minicamp. “People come back off their injury — if you’re not coming back off your injury the same, then what are you doing? What were you doing your entire rehab?”
Kraft said he expects to open training camp on the physically unable to perform list but he should be ready for the start of the season. Kraft hasn’t played since getting carted off Lambeau Field on Nov. 2 during a 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
“With how I feel, I would say I’m going to get all the conditioning I need in camp to start Week 1 on no pitch count,” he said.
Kraft’s injury ended what had been the best season of his career.
The 2023 third-round draft pick out of South Dakota State caught 32 passes for 489 yards in eight games. Although Kraft played fewer than half of the Packers’ games, his six touchdown catches tied for the team lead.
The week before his injury, Kraft caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-25 victory at Pittsburgh.
“I thought that at a combination of the do-it-all Y, which is me, that there wasn’t another guy in the league that was doing it as well as I was,” Kraft said. “Some people might think I’m delusional to say that, but … the film is going to speak for itself. Outside zone, inside zone, screen game, down the field, just as far as putting it all together, I felt like I was in a great spot.”
Kraft’s rehabilitation was particularly frustrating because he was unable to help the Packers when they collapsed down the stretch. Green Bay lost its final four regular-season games and blew a 21-3 lead in a 31-27 NFC wild-card playoff loss at Chicago.
“I watched every game from the couch Week 8 and on last year, so the hardest part for me is I’ve always been a leader with the way I do things physically, not necessarily with how I talk and present myself to the team in other settings,” Kraft said. “So losing that ability to show the boys, this is how we do it, this is the physical standard, this is the precedent, I’d say that was the hardest part for me.”
Kraft said he’s now feeling better than he expected at this point in his recovery.
“I think the good Lord put us on this world to endure and there have been so many things I’ve found out about myself through this process — good and bad,” Kraft said. “There are things about myself that I was able to correct. Strengths I’m going to be able to show everyone when this is all said and done. … I don’t think something like this had to happen to me to get better. I think I had the right mindset prior to my injury, but now I know what it’s about and I know how much I love this game and all the support system I’ve had to get past it.”
Kraft also knows how much he would love to stay in Green Bay for years to come.
The Packers already have signed wide receivers Jayden Reed and Christian Watson to long-term deals over the last two months. Kraft figures to be next in line, as his contract is set to expire after the season and the Packers don’t want to see him enter free agency.
“We put it all together, it can be very dangerous,” Reed said this week. “It’s really no limit to it. Tuck’s a dog, man. It’s on tape.”
Kraft didn’t want to comment on contract talks Wednesday beyond expressing his hopes in getting a deal done.
“I want to play for this organization my entire career,” Kraft said. “I’m spoiled to have been drafted here and this is all I know. Green and gold is all I know, so we’d like to keep it that way.”
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