The Buccaneers know they won’t have quarterback Baker Mayfield against the Packers this Sunday and they were missing a number of other players at practice on Wednesday.
Wide receiver Chris Godwin sat out with an ankle injury. Godwin has 10 catches for 111 yards so far this season. His absence comes a day after the Bucs placed wideout Jalen McMillan on injured reserve.
Two of the team’s top pass rushers were also on the sideline. Yaya Diaby (calf, shoulder) and Rueben Bain (groin, shoulder) were both listed as out on the first injury report of the week. Bain did not play in last Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
Tight end Ko Kieft (elbow), defensive tackle Rakeem Nuñez-Roches (ankle, foot), and cornerback Jacob Parrish (personal) also missed practice. Linebacker SirVocea Dennis (calf), running back Bucky Irving (glute), defensive back Keionte Scott (toe), and linebacker Josiah Trotter (shoulder) were limited participants.
Packers Clips
Some think recent comments from Packers president and CEO Ed Policy regarding revenue disparities were less about other teams being able to sell minority stakes and more about the push-and-pull regarding its Lambeau Field lease and associated projects.
One potential project would result in considerably more revenue, but it’s apparently not likely to happen.
As explained by Richard Ryman of the Green Bay Press-Gazette (via Sports Business Journal), an expansion of the stadium that would add more than 7,000 seats isn’t in the plans.
Adding the seats would take a small chunk out of the season-ticket waiting list, which sits at 163,000. And it would help the Packers make more money.
However, there’s a concern that it could become “too big for its potential uses,” and that the extra seats could “take a long time” to pay for themselves with only 10-12 events there per year.
Beyond revenue concerns, the Packers have bigger issues. After 30-plus years of consistent contention, the team could be on the front end of a rare lost season. Which could result in empty seats after the weather turns — and when the Packers play four home games on and after December 13.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said last week that it was too soon to talk about whether wide receiver Jayden Reed would play again this season, but that determination has now been made.
LaFleur announced at a Wednesday press conference that Reed will miss the rest of the season with the neck injury he suffered in Week 2 against the Jets. Reed, who had to be taken to a New Jersey hospital and stayed the night before returning to Green Bay, will have surgery.
Reed will be placed on injured reserve on Wednesday to open up a roster spot for the Packers.
Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, Skyy Moore, Bo Melton, and J. Michael Sturdivant are the remaining wideouts on the active roster.
By beating the Bengals on Sunday, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers equaled former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s career win total.
Both Rodgers and Roethlisberger have exactly 165 regular-season wins as a starting quarterback, tied for the fifth-most ever. Roethlisberger played his entire career with the Steelers, while Rodgers has 147 wins with the Packers, 12 with the Steelers and six with the Jets.
The all-time record for wins by a starting quarterback may never be broken: Tom Brady retired with 251 career wins, 219 with the Patriots and 32 with the Buccaneers. You could take Rodgers’ stellar career, add five 17-0 seasons on top of it, and you’d still be one win short of Brady’s career win total.
Tied for second place in all-time wins are Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, each with 186. Favre won 160 starts with the Packers, 17 with the Vikings and nine with the Jets. Manning won 141 starts with the Colts and 45 with the Broncos.
Rodgers has a chance to surpass No. 4 on the all-time wins list, Drew Brees, who won 172 career games: 142 with the Saints and 30 with the Chargers. If Rodgers and the Steelers win eight more games this season, Rodgers will retire ahead of Brees and behind only Brady, Manning and Favre on the all-time wins list.
More help is on the way for Green Bay’s beleaguered offensive line.
Veteran Kevin Zeitler is signing with the Packers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Zeitler, 36, spent last season with the Titans, starting 16 games. He took a visit with the Packers on Tuesday.
The No. 27 overall pick of the 2012 draft, Zeitler has started 213 games for the Bengals, Browns, Giants, Ravens, Lions, and Titans.
It’s the latest move the Packers have made after last week’s loss to the Falcons, having also added veterans Laken Tomlinson and Mekhi Becton.
Green Bay will be on the road to face Tampa Bay on Sunday.
The Packers have added a pair of veteran offensive linemen in the past couple of days and they may not be done addressing the area.
Tuesday’s transaction report from the NFL shows that guard Kevin Zeitler visited with the team. The Wisconsin native and Wisconsin alum has been out of the league since wrapping up the 2025 season with the Titans.
Zeitler started all 16 games he played in Tennessee and has 213 career starts since entering the league as a 2012 second round pick of the Bengals.
The Packers signed Laken Tomlinson to their active roster and Mekhi Becton to their practice squad earlier this week.
The NFL announced a change to the league’s schedule for Week 5.
When the schedule was initially unveiled, the schedule called for a game between the Bears and Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay to kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET. On Tuesday, the league announced that the game will now get underway at 1 p.m. ET and it will be televised on Fox.
Any matchup between the Bears and Packers factors into the NFC North race and has decades of tradition to add to its attractiveness, but the Packers’ sluggish start and the likelihood that Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will miss the game make it less of a national draw than it might be at other times.
The change leaves two games on Fox in the 4:25 p.m. ET window. The matchup between the 49ers and Seahawks in Seattle will likely be the marquee national game with the Lions-Cardinals game in Arizona joining a 4:05 p.m. ET game on CBS between the Broncos and Chargers as regional matchups in the later afternoon time slot.
The Packers placed right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele on injured reserve Monday, the team announced.
Bako-Bewele tore his patellar tendon on the third play from scrimmage against the Jets in Week 2. He underwent surgery Thursday and faces a recovery of 8-10 months.
The Packers announced the signing of veteran offensive guard Laken Tomlinson from the Cowboys’ practice squad. They also signed veteran offensive guard Mekhi Becton to the practice squad.
Becton will take the roster spot of defensive tackle Eric Johnson II, who the team waived from the practice squad in a corresponding move.
Tomlinson has not appeared in any games for Dallas this season, but he appeared in 10 games and made seven starts for the Texans last season. He previously started 155 games for the Seahawks, Jets, 49ers and Lions.
The Chargers released Becton in March after signing him to a two-year deal in the 2025 offseason. He appeared in 15 regular-season games at right guard for the Chargers last season, and he also started their playoff loss to the Patriots. The 2020 Jets first-round pick struggled with injuries early in his career, but was a starter with the Eagles in 2024 and won a Super Bowl ring.
Green Bay Packers fans didn’t like what they saw on Thursday night. They reacted by booing.
Packers tight end Tucker Kraft didn’t like what he heard. He said so after the game.
Meeting with reporters on Monday, Kraft changed his tune. A bit.
“I’m not gonna add anymore to the booing,” Kraft said, via Kyle Malzhan of WFRV. “You know, in hindsight, we were out there on the field not doing the greatest. You know, we’re out there, busting our tails, trying to make every play come to life, one play at a time. That’s our mindset. I understand a lot of people spent time and resources to be there at the game. Wish it would have been a better outcome. Everyone in the locker room wished it would have been a better outcome. Like I said, when I was referring in the past to disappointment, I’m talking about from the day overall, not just from the fans. Obviously, the fans are out there, and Christian [Watson] put it the best, like, this is an entertainment business. We gotta go out there and put a better product on display. So, you know, people are happier when they’re heading to their cars after the game.”
Kraft’s overall reaction from the fans came from the fact that he’s as invested in the franchise as they are.
“The fans that really care about us and, you know, our roots in Green Bay,” Kraft said. “Like I consider myself a Wisconsinite at this point. Green Bay is the largest city I’ve ever lived in. I live here year-round, you know, and so I have, you know, just as much pride in stake in this team and organization [as] anyone else does. I take it personal. Every dig that the Packers get, you know, because this is my team. I love this team. So tuning out all that stuff, like I said, easy for me. I don’t take things personal. I understand. Emotions get people, and had we gone out there and flipped — we didn’t — but had we gone out there and flipped the score, people would have been saying emotional things to Atlanta Falcons. I don’t know. You know, it’s just a bunch of games of if, ands, or butts, and bottom line is, we gotta go out there and execute better.”
That’s the beauty of sports. For every game, there’s a winner and a loser. There are good teams and bad teams. Some fans are happy, other fans are pissed.
It’s the way it goes, every single year. Whether it’s “this is the year” or “wait ‘til next year,” half the fan bases are happy after a given game, and half the fan bases aren’t.
In the end, only one fan base is thrilled — and the other 31 are hoping that the ultimate thrill is only a year away.
The Packers signed guard Laken Tomlinson after last Thursday’s loss to the Falcons and they may not be done adding to their offensive line options.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that they had Mekhi Becton in for a workout on Monday morning.
Becton signed a two-year deal with the Chargers as a free agent in 2025, but he was released in March. He started 14 games during his one season with the team and was the Eagles’ right guard when they won the Super Bowl the previous year.
Becton also has experience at tackle during his time with the Jets. He was picked in the first round by the Jets in 2020 and spent four years with the team, but missed all but one game in 2021 and 2022 due to injuries.
UPDATE 11:39 a.m. ET: Fowler reports that Becton will sign with the Packers.
