There were a lot of positives to take away from the Green Bay Packers’ first preseason game of the year. They went on the road to face the Cincinnati Bengals after having a joint practice with the team, winning 36-19.
Unfortunately, there were also some negatives that came from the game. The biggest one was that a major injury was suffered. Early on in the second half, tight end Tyler Davis caught a pass and was injured while being tackled.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that the injury was a pretty significant one following the game. That turned out to be true, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that Davis tore his ACL on the play.
The expectation is that Davis will now miss the 2023 season, which was going to be his four overall and third with the Packers. This is a huge blow to the team, as their depth at tight end was already a bit tenuous. In addition to that, their special teams unit now has a huge void to fill.
Davis was a key member of all of the Packers’ special teams, playing 232 snaps over 14 games in 2021 and a team-high 346 snaps after appearing in all 17 games last season. He was part of all the regular special team groupings once again this year in training camp and with Marcedes Lewis moving on in free agency, Davis’ role was expected to grow offensively as well.
With Josiah Deguara taking over a hybrid role as a fullback/H-Back, the Packers will assuredly have to add a traditional tight end to the roster from free agency. Without Davis, the depth chart includes rookies Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft and undrafted first-year player Austin Allen.
All eyes will be on Allen the next few weeks, as he has a chance to now carve out a role with the Packers and earn a spot on the 53-man roster. At the very least, some more competition will be added to the mix as the hole on special teams will be the toughest one to overcome.
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