Packers’ rookie TE Luke Musgrave learning on the job
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Luke Musgrave doesn’t remember exactly what Matt LaFleur said — or screamed — when he came to the sideline after the Green Bay Packers’ opening drive in their most recent game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
All Musgrave knew — and everyone watching, as the “Monday Night Football” cameras caught the Packers coach laying into the tight end — was that he deserved it.
“It doesn’t faze me that much,” Musgrave said of the chewing out. “I honestly don’t even know what he said. I just kinda nodded. It was justified because I ran the wrong route.”
And that’s life as a rookie tight end.
In the moment, LaFleur no doubt forgot what he had to say in the offseason after the Packers drafted Musgrave in the second round and fellow tight end Tucker Kraft in the third. To those who were captivated by Musgrave’s combination of size (6-foot-6, 253 pounds) and speed (4.61 in the 40), LaFleur said, “Outside of the quarterback position … the tight ends have to know the second most of anybody [in an NFL offense] because they have every facet of the game.”
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In Week 5 against the Raiders, Musgrave didn’t know what he was supposed to do on a third-and-3 play from Las Vegas’ 47-yard line. He ran the wrong route, got too close to receiver Christian Watson on the sideline near the first-down marker and mucked up the play. Jordan Love tried a deep shot to receiver Jayden Reed that didn’t come close, and the Packers had to punt. It potentially cost them points in what turned out to be a 3-point first half on the way to a 17-13 loss.
More than a week later, as the Packers (2-3) return from their Week 6 bye to face the Denver Broncos Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), the play — and LaFleur’s reaction to it — was still being dissected.
“Did they show that on TV?” LaFleur said of his sideline conversation with Musgrave. “Oh, that’s a bad look. That’s bad ball. Yeah, he made a mistake. Made a mistake, and certainly unintentional, and those are going to happen. And quite frankly, I think that’s a good thing that if I’m getting after him because I know he’s capable of not making that mistake. He’s a guy that we have a lot of faith in, and I think he’s going to continue to grow.”
This summer, Love threw Musgrave’s direction so often in training camp that perhaps expectations got out of whack.
Of the 16 tight ends drafted in April, there is one who has shown out: Detroit’s Sam LaPorta. Taken eight spots ahead of Musgrave, LaPorta — the second tight end picked overall behind the only first-rounder, Dalton Kincaid by the Bills — leads all rookie tight ends with 29 catches, 325 yards and three touchdowns.
Musgrave ranks second among rookie tight ends in both catches (18) and yards (159) in one fewer game than LaPorta because the Packers have already had their bye. Musgrave also missed most of another game, Week 4 against LaPorta’s Lions, after he sustained a concussion on his first catch of the game. Musgrave has only one drop this season, but it was in the final minute against the Raiders when the Packers were down to their last chance. Kincaid, with 17 catches for 118 yards, is the only other rookie tight end with more than eight catches this season.
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All that considered, Musgrave’s start has been by no means slow. But considering what a large part of the offense it looked like he’d be in training camp, some might have expected him to have 40 catches by now.
“Well, 40 catches in five games, that’d be pretty awesome,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “No, I’m with you. He’s a guy I definitely think as you go back and watch, it’s like, all right, how can we get our playmakers the ball? That’s the biggest thing. So he’s one of those guys, I think, that we need to find ways to get him more involved for sure.”
Musgrave said he wasn’t sure what to expect coming into the season despite how often Love targeted him in the preseason.
“Practice is different from games,” Musgrave said. “I was just hoping to come out there and just stack reps and help the team.”
Suffice it to say, the lessons will continue throughout his rookie season. In the Raiders’ game, it was Musgrave confusing the route.
“I thought it was ‘Z Stick,’ but it was ‘Z Omaha,'” he said. “It was a game-plan thing where we changed that play, so instead of it being Z-stick it turned into Z-Omaha. Muscle memory, I hear Z and I go.”
In practice this week, it was something more subtle. LaFleur said Musgrave ran a route during an individual period at “100 miles an hour” when it was a play that called for him to “tempo down” to find a spot in a zone.
“I’m so used to just using my speed,” Musgrave said. “In college, it was pretty easy just to run away from people. Now, it’s a little bit more where you can tempo your routes. It’s finding zones, so it’s just different. Having speed is a good thing, but you don’t need to use 100% of it 100% of the time.
Later in the same practice, LaFleur called that route again during an 11-on-11 period.
“And it looked better, and it was well-executed,” LaFleur said. “But that’s a feel thing because … you’d rather have guys with that mindset, with that mentality and try to rein ’em back a little bit.”
And no chewing out was necessary that time.
“I think he’s doing a great job,” LaFleur said. “I think every day we go out on that field, there is something that kind of clicks for him.”