Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst ‘have a plan’ at tight end moving forward

In his Sunday press conference, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed that he’s talked to general manager Brian Gutekunst and has come up with “a plan” for what the team will do at the tight end position moving forward. The position has been through a lot of changes this season, with the most recent being John FitzPatrick’s Achilles injury.

FitzPatrick is likely to join Tucker Kraft on the injured reserve soon. Beyond just those injuries, Josh Whyle missed last week’s game with a concussion. On top of that, Ben Sims, whom the team tried to get back on their practice squad after dropping him from the 53-man roster earlier in the year due to the roster math, is now a Minnesota Viking.

With those four factors in play, Luke Musgrave was the only tight end available for Green Bay by the end of their game against the Chicago Bears. Offensive lineman Darian Kinnard has played some snaps at tight end, but he’s not running routes.

Green Bay has two practice squad tight ends on the team, but neither McCallan Castles nor Drake Dabney was called up to the gameday roster last week, which might have been the first time that the LaFleur Packers have only had two tight ends active for a game. Both Castles and Dabney were brought in last month, when Kraft went on IR, Sims was poached by the Vikings and Whyle went up to the 53-man roster.

Notably, Marcedes Lewis, a former Packer, is available to be poached from the Denver Broncos’ practice squad. If Green Bay signs Lewis, he will be guaranteed a 53-man roster spot for at least three weeks, per NFL rules. Lewis played five seasons for the Packers, recording 64 starts over that time. The blocking tight end has played four games for the Broncos this year, playing a total of 66 snaps on the year.