Green Bay Packers head coach, Matt LaFleur, expressed regret at having Zach Tom start Sunday’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns when speaking to the media in the aftermath of the 13-10 loss.
“I’d say if a guy plays one play—and so we’ve gotta have some discussions, we can’t allow that to happen.” LaFleur commented after the game, “It’s disappointing when he plays one play. Banks, I don’t think that was the case, it was a different injury. It is what it is, it happens.”
And those regrets may now be set in stone, as Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Wednesday morning that the Packers‘ starting right tackle is “unlikely” to play on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
Packers RT Zach Tom is not expected to play Sunday night vs. the Cowboys due to the oblique injury he suffered in a loss at Cleveland, per source.” Schefter wrote on X, “Green Bay has a bye next week to reassess how Tom is feeling and whether he can return in Week 6 vs. the Bengals.
Matt LaFleur Revealed That Zach Tom Did Not Worsen Injury on Sunday
Despite LaFleur clearly wanting a mulligan on starting his best offensive lineman, who played a couple of snaps before coming off the field unable to continue, he also noted that Tom’s torn oblique was not aggravated by his on-field play last weekend.
“I wouldn’t say he further re-aggravated [the injury],” LaFleur said on Monday, “It’s always hard to simulate what you’re going to face in a game. You’d have to ask him, but I think that the force of the guy that he’s going against, it hurt him. He didn’t feel like he could go.
…It’s hard to simulate what these guys are going to go against in the game. We did our best in terms of trying to put them through enough and certainly had them going in practice, but still the game’s a different speed.”
And when asked to explicitly clarify that Tom’s injury did not get exacerbated, La Fleur responded “correct”.
What Will The Packers’ O-Line Look Like Without Zach Tom?
At this point, it is fairly uncontroversial to say that Tom is the most key piece of what many believed could be one of the league’s top offensive lines coming into 2025.
Without him, Green Bay gave up 5 sacks last weekend, as second year first round pick, Jordan Morgan, rookie second round pick, Anthony Belton, and former Philadelphia Eagle, Darian Kinnard also saw time in Tom’s RT spot, none of whom showed themselves to be the clear answer for the immediate future.
Belton and Morgan took the majority of snaps at the position, and they posted Pro Football Focus grades of 41.6 and 40.7 – both of which were bottom-five amongst Packers players in week 3.
With Tom and big-ticket offseason free agent acquisition, Aaron Banks still on the sidelines, Morgan and Belton may both be forced back into the game against the Cowboys in week 4.
The team may also opt to start Kinnard at tackle, and keep Morgan at guard, after he was moved inside in the second half of the game after Banks came out injured.
Either way, if Green Bay is going to have Tom on the sidelines for an extended period, they are going to need at least one of their young talents to step up.
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