The Green Bay Packers are third in offensive DVOA, despite playing two and a half games this season with a backup quarterback in Malik Willis. So it’s not like the unit hasn’t operated at a high level through 14 games. But it can get even better for the final stretch of the season.

Luke Musgrave, who had his 21-day practice window opened last week, has a shot at playing on Monday night against the New Orleans Saints.

“He’s actually looked pretty good out there the past couple days, so we’ll see,” head coach Matt LaFleur said on Friday. “Just watched him take a lot of the scout team reps. He’s running fast. We didn’t have pads on this week, but I do think that everything I’ve seen from him, he looks pretty good.”

Musgrave was limited at practice on Thursday and Friday. If the Packers want him on the field on Monday, they have to activate him to the 53-man roster — there’s an open roster spot since the Packers traded Preston Smith.

Musgrave injured his ankle in Week 4, against the Minnesota Vikings. Even before that, he had had a smaller role compared to last season with the emergence of Tucker Kraft. But LaFleur counts on Musgrave to have an impact.

“We wouldn’t put him in there if we didn’t feel like he was confident or able to go out there and accomplish what we wanted him to do,” LaFleur said. “He’s had enough experience, and I feel pretty comfortable with what we would ask him to do to go out there and play.”

What he can do

Part of the process for the Packers to select Musgrave and Kraft in the same draft class is because they have completely different styles of play. The second-rounder brings a special element to the offense, and LaFleur intends to take full advantage of it.

“Absolutely. He’s got something that you can’t really coach, in terms of just the speed that he brings out on the field,” LaFleur pointed out. “It’s not like we would go out there and play him 70 snaps, but if we can ease him back into it, I think it would be really good for him and for us.”

In his rookie season, Luke Musgrave played 42% of the offensive snaps, but he missed six games with a kidney injury. He actually played 66% of the snaps in the game he was active in.

This year, he appeared in four games, with 39% of the snaps in those. He was targeted seven times, with five receptions and only 22 yards.

It has been a challenging sequence for Luke Musgrave. But the Packers are excited to have him back, and it’s another explosive weapon to make the offense even more dangerous down the stretch.