Packers lose RT Zach Bako-Bewele to season-ending surgery - ESPN

GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second straight season, the Green Bay Packers have lost right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele for the season due to a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.

Last year, it was a partial tear that prevented him from coming back after he was injured in Week 15. This year, he said it was a complete tear sustained in Sunday's overtime win over the New York Jets.

Bako-Bewele, who was limited most of the offseason while recovering from a surgery he described as a repair to remove some tissue around the patellar tendon, now will undergo a more complex surgery that he expects to sideline him for eight to 10 months. He said the surgery is scheduled for Thursday.

He would not say whether he might have come back too soon from the initial surgery. He did not rule out that the surface at MetLife Stadium might have played a role.

«I don't know,» Bako-Bewele said Tuesday. «I mean, I don't think the turf helped. Yeah, I don't know. Just something that happened, so I just gotta move forward.»

The fourth-round pick in 2022 is widely considered the Packers' best offensive lineman. They signed him to a four-year, $88 million contract extension in 2025. Second-year pro Anthony Belton finished Sunday's game at right tackle and likely will start there again Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons.

That wasn't the only injury on the offensive line from Sunday's game. Green Bay finished the game without left guard Aaron Banks (toe/knee) and then lost his replacement, Donovan Jennings, to a hand injury. Rookie Jager Burton finished the game at left guard. He was the last offensive lineman available in the game, and when right guard Jacob Monk was getting evaluated for a stinger, the Packers were preparing to use tight end Tucker