Luke Musgrave ‘Hopefully’ Will Return Against Saints

Welcome back, Luke Musgrave? After suffering an ankle injury in Week 4, the Packers’ tight end discussed his potential return on Monday night against the Saints.

Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave / William Glasheen/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Some introductions were in order in the Green Bay Packers’ offensive huddle at practice on Friday.

“First time I got to share a huddle with him today,” Tucker Kraft said of fellow tight end Luke Musgrave. “Shook his hand and I said, ‘Hey, there, how you doing?’”

Musgrave, who has been out since Week 4 with an ankle injury that required surgery, had been limited to position drills and scout-team reps since he was designated for return from injured reserve on Dec. 11.

On Friday, Musgrave was integrated into the offense. He could play on Monday against the New Orleans Saints.

“Yeah, potentially,” coach Matt LaFleur said after practice.

Relayed what LaFleur said, Musgrave replied, “Yeah, hopefully.”

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich liked what he saw.

“We got him out there in team and he looked good,” he said. “He was running around. Kind of the big thing is just to see how he can do blocking and changing direction and things like that. But his linear speed looked good. He made some plays down the field running. Yeah, we’ll see. It’s just a day-to-day thing and we’ll see if we can get him out there on Monday.”

It’s a rapid comeback for a player who had been out for more than two months and isn’t quite through his second week of practice.

“Feeling good,” Musgrave said. “I’m taking a lot of scout-team reps, which is great, going against the No. 1 defense. So, it’s been really good, just to learn by doing. So, it’s been good.”

Against the Vikings, Musgrave’s ankle was bent inward. He played through the injury in that game and tried to play a week later against the Rams.

Finally, the decision was made to repair the ligament damage. That meant the second significant time on the sideline following last year’s kidney injury.

“Definitely been challenged (mentally),” Musgrave said. “Again, injuries are a hard part of the game – the worst part of the game – but I think you’ve just got to stick them out, find little victories. For me, it’s just little victories in the rehab. We’re all competitors, so if you find little victories in the rehab, that gets you through it.”

Musgrave said getting his change-of-direction ability back has been the biggest challenge, but he likes how he’s trending.

“It’s going to get stiff and sore but, stability-wise, I’m there,” he said.

Getting those scout-team reps against Jeff Hafley’s defense has been key to getting him ready for the next big step of potentially playing on Monday.

“It’s good to see him back,” Hafley said. “We got to see quite a bit of him in training camp and we know what he’s capable of doing and what he brings to the offense, so to see him getting ready to go, that’s exciting. Any time you get a player like that back, giving us a look, it’s very helpful.”

Once Musgrave returns, Green Bay will have its full complement of primary players on offense.

Musgrave and Kraft were second- and third-round picks in last year’s draft. They were supposed to be focal points of the offense. Instead, they’ve played only 125 snaps together in two years, according to ESPN.

So, getting Musgrave back on the field, with his field-stretching ability and underrated blocking, would open a whole new avenue on offense.

“It’s great to see the progress he’s made in his injury coming back from that,” Kraft said. “I myself having an ankle injury in the past, I know what it’s like to get back to blocking again, cutting on that ankle, trusting it. Just really proud of him. He’s done it the hard way. It’s not easy to be injured.”

Green Bay’s offense has been humming with four consecutive games of 30-plus points.

What can Musgrave add to the mix?

“I can play hard and I’ll do whatever plays they want me to do,” he said.

He’s familiar with that role.

Last year, the Packers’ offense was among the hottest units in the NFL when Musgrave returned following a six-game absence. After playing nine snaps in Week 18, he caught six passes for 66 yards and one touchdown in two playoff games.

“I’ll do whatever plays they have for me,” Musgrave said. “If that’s blocking, if that’s route-running, if that’s whatever. Whatever they have me doing, I’ll do.”

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