Matt LaFleur, Zach Bako-Bewele Injury Update
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The Green Bay Packers have lost one of their brightest offensive stars to a season-ending injury ahead of Week 3’s matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, Packers star right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele told reporters Tuesday that he “fully tore” the patellar tendon in his right knee during Week 2’s win over the New York Jets and will miss the rest of the 2026 season.
“He’s getting surgery on Thursday and faces a nine-month recovery,” Schneidman wrote Tuesday on X. “Same knee as the one he partially tore the patellar tendon in last December. [He] didn’t blame it on coming back too soon. Did say [the] turf didn’t help.”
Bako-Bewele injured his knee on the third play of the Packers’ opening drive against the Jets, leaving the field on a medical cart and missing the rest of the game. Afterward, head coach Matt LaFleur implied the worst for his $88 million star offensive lineman.
“That doesn’t look good,” LaFleur said. “I think he could be out for a long time.”
The Packers will now expectedly place Bako-Bewele on the injured reserve list in the coming days. They might even make the roster move on Tuesday; though, the NFL does not publish its daily transactions list until after 4 p.m. ET most afternoons.
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