Packers tight end Tucker Kraft struggling with drops as he comes back from torn ACL

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft said this summer he believed he was playing as well as any tight end in the NFL before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last season.

Now that he’s healthy again, Kraft has been unable to pick up right where he left off.

Kraft scored his first touchdown of the season Sunday in the Packers’ 17-14 victory at Tampa Bay, but he also couldn’t hang on to a pass in the end zone to continue his uncharacteristic struggles with drops. Kraft is averaging 9.9 yards per catch, well below his career average of 13.7 heading into the season.

“I think I’m just trying to do too much,” Kraft said Wednesday. “Offensively, we might get into a lull, and I think I can make the game-saving play right there. I’m taking my eyes off the ball. Can’t do anything without the ball, so I’m just going to slow down and play my role. Catch the football.”

Kraft has caught 15 passes for 148 yards with one touchdown through four games heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Chicago Bears (3-1).

Last season, he had 32 receptions for 489 yards and six touchdowns in eight games before tearing his right ACL in a Nov. 2 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur says it’s a matter of shaking off the rust.

“I think a lot of guys that come off major injuries, it takes a period of time,” LaFleur said. “And I know we want instant gratification, and the expectation is whatever you saw that that’s what it’s going to be. But I think for many of these guys, not just us, but around the league, guys that come off major injuries, it just takes them some time. They’ve got to get back to playing.”

Kraft worked his way back in time to be ready for the start of the season. He signed a four-year, $75 million contract extension with a maximum value of $92 million the day before the Packers (2-2) opened their season with a 39-22 loss at Minnesota.

But he’s still working his way back to the form he showed in the first half of last season.

While Kraft acknowledges his numbers don’t necessarily reflect it, the 2023 third-round pick from South Dakota State believes the game is slowing down for him. He says he’s “feeling more savvy” in his coverage recognition.

“Statistically, it might not look like I’m playing better,” Kraft said. “Some would even say that I might’ve lost my stinger. My brothers were telling me that. They said, ‘You look like you kind of lost your edge out there.’ They said it to me last week. I tried to go out in Tampa and be a meanie, but it was too damn hot. I couldn’t breathe out there.

“This week, (I’ll) try to get back to my roots, the kind of (stuff) I was on my first and second year when I was playing to the echo of the whistle and being hard on the defense.”

Kraft still is making an impact.

He set up Green Bay’s first touchdown Sunday by taking a direct snap on fourth-and-1 from the 9 and delivering a 3-yard run, with quarterback Jordan Love coming up from behind to push him forward.

It isn’t a new role for him.

“I was a quarterback in high school for two years, did a little under center,” Kraft said. “I got a lot of experience in college running that play because it’s a special situation and you have to practice it a lot in college, and we ran it like eight times when I was at South Dakota State.”

That’s one way Kraft has added to his game while he attempts to improve his production.

After all, he doesn’t merely want to get back to playing the way he did last season. He wants to be even better.

“The goal is always to ascend,” Kraft said. “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. So, my goal is to walk in this building every day with the right mindset. See the film, see our run/pass pictures, and really just apply it with all the reps that I’ve had throughout my time here since 2023. So, yeah, now like I said, I’m just trying to continue to evolve, get some more of those breakout on-the-field plays. That all starts with catching the ball.”

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