Tucker Kraft is absent for the Green Bay Packers game in the Wild Card Round against the Chicago Bears. The star tight end is a big loss for the Packers’ offense, which had no receivers with over 750 yards for the season.
Why Is Tucker Kraft Not Playing For The Packers In The Playoffs?
Kraft was having a productive 2025 season, with 489 yards in the first two months of the year. However, when playing against the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 2, he suffered a serious knee injury during a block attempt that kept him out of the game. Later, a torn ACL was confirmed, and he was out for the season.
At the time, Kraft was leading the Packers in receiving yards, even though he played in just eight games. His 489 yards represented the third-highest number on the team after the end of the regular season, with only Romeo Doubs (724) and Christian Watson (611) earning more.
Injuries have been a big problem for Green Bay in the second half of the season. They also lost Micah Parsons to a torn ACL, and he will not play against Chicago. Since Kraft went down, the Packers won just four of their remaining 10 games, earning a playoff berth as a wild card with a 9-7-1 record.
Even if he couldn’t build his stats in the second half of the season, he was still recognized as the league’s best tight end in 2025 by our metric. PFSN’s TE Impact Metric ranks Kraft as No. 1 with an Impact Score of 90.9; he’s the only tight end to earn an A grade.
The Packers did not have great production from their tight ends in the previous two games against the Chicago Bears. Luke Musgrave had 2 receptions for 22 yards in Week 14, and he added 3 catches and 38 yards in Week 16. He did not score a touchdown in those games.
Now starting their playoff run against their biggest rivals, Green Bay will hope to emulate the 2010 run. If the Packers, who hold the lowest seed in the NFC for the playoffs, are to win the Super Bowl, they’ll have to play three straight away games in the NFC.
They’ll hope that the return of offensive lineman Zach Tom, along with quarterback Jordan Love back from a concussion, can help the offense put a higher gear and upset the Chicago Bears in the playoffs. But with so many absences, Green Bay could have a hard time against its historic rivals.
