The Green Bay Packers have tried to get Kevin Zeitler ready for a game this week.
By Friday, injuries to two other guards had made the thought of ‘when can he play’ more pressing.
Aaron Banks and Jacob Monk missed the Packers’ final practice before Sunday’s visit to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported. Both also sat out Thursday. Zeitler, meanwhile, practiced after taking the field this week for the first time since last season.
Coach Matt LaFleur floated a good update on the 36-year-old newcomer without saying whether he would play.
“He’s feeling a little bit more comfortable each and every day,” LaFleur said, according to Demovsky. “What is this, year 15 for him? He’s got a lot of practice reps under his belt.”
LaFleur: “He’s feeling a little bit more comfortable each and every day. What is this, year 15 for him? He’s got a lot of practice reps
That experience may help Zeitler learn the assignment. It can’t give him a full training camp in three days.
Zeitler’s Chance Comes With a Short Runway
Green Bay signed Zeitler on Wednesday, adding a longtime right guard while its offensive line was already in flux.
Banks has been dealing with knee and toe injuries, while Monk is listed with a quadriceps injury on the team’s injury report.
Their absences Friday increased the urgency of a decision the Packers were weighing.
LaFleur said before practice that Green Bay had a plan for its line but wanted to get through one more session before finalizing it, per Packers On SI’s account of his remarks. The coach didn’t identify his starting guards or specify how much work Zeitler could handle.
The veteran has a substantial career.
He has started 213 of his 214 regular-season games, according to the Packers’ announcement of his signing, and earned a Pro Bowl selection in 2023. Green Bay’s profile of his arrival says he played 16 games last season before a quadriceps injury and leg hyperextension required offseason treatment.
Zeitler told the team he was willing to play Sunday if needed.
LaFleur will have to judge how speedily the guard has regained game readiness and absorbed a new offense.
Packers’ Line Changes Put Love in Focus
Zeitler is one of three veteran linemen Green Bay brought in this week.
Laken Tomlinson joined the active roster Monday, while Mekhi Becton Sr. signed to the practice squad. Tomlinson has spent most of his career at left guard, the spot Banks has struggled to occupy consistently while injured. Becton would need to be elevated to play Sunday.
The player entrances follow three games in which the Packers have had trouble establishing the run and keeping pressure away from Jordan Love. LaFleur said the line needed improvement in its pass sets and handling of defensive twists, via the team’s account of his Monday remarks.
Love has also pointed to the run game as a way to ease that burden.
“Being able to lean on the run game is going to take some of the pressure off the pass protection,” he said in a Packers interview published Wednesday.
Sunday may display the first glance at what Green Bay’s rebuilt line can do.
But in the meantime, the Packers now have to decide whether a few practices are enough to put their newest guard in front of Love.
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