GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers, who led a charmed injury existence last season on the way to the NFC Championship Game, have lost their third player this year to a season-ending knee injury: fullback/tight end John Lovett.
A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Lovett tore his ACL.
Lovett had been listed on this week's injury report with a knee injury and was a full participant in Wednesday's practice. However, on Thursday he was downgraded to limited.
Lovett got his first carries of the season -- three rushes for 6 yards -- in last week's Thursday night win over the San Francisco 49ers. The Packers had already lost two opening-day starters to ACL tears: guard Lane Taylor in the season opener and rookie tight end Josiah Deguara in Week 4.
The Packers were one of the NFL's healthiest teams in 2019, but their fortunes have turned this year. Still, they're 6-2 heading into Sunday's game against the 1-7 Jaguars.
Lovett, who was a quarterback at Princeton, played just 45 snaps on offense this season but was second in special-teams tackles, becoming one of the Packers' most important players on coverage units.
"He's definitely a spark plug for us and has developed into a good leader and plays hard, extremely hard, in every phase and has the right mentality that we're looking for on special teams," Packers special-teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga said. "It didn't really surprise me. We noticed him, obviously, during camp, and even though he is a former quarterback, he definitely doesn't play like that. He's definitely got a defensive mentality and is physical in everything that he does and does everything the right way all the time. He's been a great shot in the arm for us and we love coaching him."
Lovett, a two-time All-America quarterback in college, came into the NFL in 2019 as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs. He spent all of his rookie season on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury, getting a Super Bowl ring on the process.
The Packers already have had 12 preferred starters miss multiple games this season, but they could get several of them back for Sunday's game. Receiver Allen Lazard and linebacker Christian Kirksey both are eligible to come off injured reserve and have practiced the last two weeks. All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari has been a full participant in practice this week for the first time since his Week 6 chest injury that is believed to have been broken ribs, and cornerback Kevin King appears on track to return from a four-week absence due to a quad injury. However, the Packers could be without cornerback Jaire Alexander, who is in the concussion protocol.