Packers designate rookie TE for return

Among the brigade of first- or second-year Packers pass catchers, Luke Musgrave has seen his rookie year stalled due to a lacerated kidney, but it does not look like the Packers view it as a season-ending injury.

Green Bay designated Musgrave for return Thursday, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman tweets. Musgrave is not expected to be activated in time for the Packers’ Week 16 game, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein, but the second-round pick is on the way back to close out his rookie year.

Musgrave’s Week 11 injury required a hospital trip. While he was soon released, the Oregon State product needed extensive rehab time. Prior to going down, Musgrave had operated as the Packers’ top tight end. Fellow Day 2 rookie Tucker Kraft has worked in that capacity in the games since. In 10 games this season, Musgrave has 33 receptions for 341 yards and a touchdown.

The Packers drafted Musgrave with the second-round pick they received from the Jets in the Aaron Rodgers trade. Part of a deep tight end draft class, Musgrave entered the NFL after having missed most of his senior season with the Beavers due to a knee injury. Musgrave became a rather interesting prospect as a result; his 341 yards this season eclipse any of his college totals. But the Packers put him to work early, letting Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis rejoin ex-assistant Luke Getsy in Chicago.

Jordan Love has shown progress during the season’s second half, forming connections with the Pack’s high number of young wide receivers. All six of Green Bay’s wideouts are in their first or second seasons; all three of its tight ends (Musgrave, Kraft, Ben Sims) are rookies. It will be interesting to see how this group develops, and Musgrave (signed through 2026) is a key component of that plan.