A rough start to Green Bay’s season took another turn for the worse on Tuesday.
Starting right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele confirmed the worst to reporters. He’s out for the season with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.
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Bako-Bewele is arguably the Packers’ best offensive lineman when healthy. But he’ll see his season cut short for a second-straight year by a season-ending injury. Bako-Bewele sustained a partial tear of the same tendon in Week 15 last season.
On Tuesday, he told reporters that this time he suffered a complete tear that will require surgery.
‘I’ve just got to move forward’
“I’ve just got to move forward,” Bako-Bewele told reporters at his locker. “It’s definitely not what I anticipated happening. You’ve just got to get back to work and start thinking about next year.”
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Bako-Bewele, 27, is playing on a four-year, $88 million contract extension that runs through the 2029 season.
Bako-Bewele sustained the injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s win over the New York Jets. The Packers didn’t know the extend of the injury at the time, but head coach Matt LaFleuer told reporters postgame that Bako-Bewele could be out “for a long time.”
Second-year pro Anthony Belton projects to move into Bako-Bewele spot at right tackle. A second-round pick in the 2025 draft, Belton played in 14 games including seven starts as a rookie last season.
With Bako-Bewele recovering from his previous patellar tendon injury, Benton got reps as Green Bay’s starting right tackle during the offseason. He’ll now have the opportunity to establish himself as a starting-caliber NFL tackle. The Packers are certainly hoping that’s the case.
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Are Packers still a realistic Super Bowl contender?
A Packers team that started the season with Super Bowl aspirations looks little like a contender through two weeks. Green Bay gave up 22 unanswered fourth-quarter points in a Week 1 loss to the rival Minnesota Vikings, then narrowly avoided an 0-2 start with a rally from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 20-17 overtime win over the Jets on Sunday.
With starting running back Josh Jacobs on the commissioner’s exempt list, the Packers rank last in the NFL in rushing with 64.5 yards per game. Now they’ve lost arguably their best offensive lineman.
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They’re also awaiting a prognosis on starting wide receiver Jayden Reed, who left Sunday’s game with a frightening back injury that required an overnight stay in New Jersey for observation. Reed is back in Green Bay as of Tuesday, but the Packers have not announced a detailed diagnosis or prognosis for the fourth-year pro.
The Packers face a short Week 3 with a Thursday night game against the Atlanta Falcons. From there, they’ll face the Buccaneers, Bears, Cowboys, Lions, Panthers, Patriots and Vikings befoe a Week 11 bye.
The good news on the horizon for Green Bay is that All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parons remains optimistic about his return from last season’s ACL tear amid reports that a Week 6 return vs. his former Cowboys is a possibility.
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