The Packers had to reshuffle their offensive line after the post-Thursday Night Football mini bye, and the surprise answer at right guard was Travis Glover.
Not Kevin Zeitler. Not Donovan Jennings.
Not Jacob Monk. Not Jager Burton.
Glover got the call between Sean Rhyan and Anthony Belton against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, giving the 2024 sixth-round pick his first real chance in a meaningful game in a long time.
His last appearance before Sunday came in Green Bay’s loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. That night, Glover entered at left guard after Elgton Jenkins left after just four plays. The assignment was brutal, and Glover’s day unraveled fast: three penalties, a benching in favor of Kadeem Telfort, then a return to the lineup at right guard after Josh Myers was injured and Sean Rhyan moved to center.
That game ended with Glover logging 33 snaps and a pass-blocking grade of 1.8 from Pro Football Focus. For perspective, Donovan Jennings and Jacob Monk posted pass-blocking grades of 40.0 and 48.2 in the Packers’ Week 1 loss to the Vikings this season, a performance that was already one of the worst blocking showings the team has seen. PFF grades come with plenty of caveats, but that gap was hard to ignore.
Glover missed the entire 2025 season because of a back injury, then returned to action in the preseason. He spent most of that work at right tackle, though not exclusively, with 39 snaps on the edge and 28 at right guard. That was enough to put him in the conversation once Jennings struggled, Monk was unavailable because of injury, and Burton’s experience had come mostly at right guard.
This time, Glover held up. The Packers weren’t sharp as a whole on offense, but he gave them something close to what an offensive lineman wants most: a quiet day.
Over 60 snaps, he allowed just one pressure and was flagged once for holding on the Packers’ first offensive play of the fourth quarter. That penalty didn’t stick around long, though, because a 19-yard completion to Jonnu Smith on the next snap wiped it away and then some.
PFF credited Glover with a 59.4 overall grade, including a 71.4 mark in pass protection and a 53.8 grade as a run blocker. That fit the broader picture for Green Bay’s line, which did enough to keep Jordan Love reasonably protected but didn’t generate much movement in the run game.
One second-quarter snap showed that split pretty clearly. On a second-and-3 play, Jordan Morgan gave ground to Buccaneers defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches so quickly that Glover, coming across as a pulling guard, ran right into Morgan’s face. For a moment, it looked like the two Packers linemen were hugging while Nunez-Roches dropped Kaleb Johnson for a two-yard loss.
Still, in a game where the Packers’ line looked functional for once, Glover wasn’t the problem. He wasn’t flashy, but he also wasn’t a liability, and given the way this season has gone up front, that counts for something.
The hope now is that Green Bay won’t need him there again anytime soon. Kevin Zeitler wasn’t expected to be ready this week after arriving late, and the timing simply wasn’t there to get him from sitting at home to playing in an NFL game after only about three days of practice, one of them at walkthrough speed. He’ll likely need more time.
If Zeitler still can’t go, though, the Packers at least know Glover can survive the assignment. On Sunday, that was enough.
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Packers Running Back Trouble Could Force A Bears Week Change
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With a divisional test against the Bears looming, Green Bay may need to make a practical change before the next kickoff. One option now on the table is turning to Pierre Strong Jr. from the practice squad, a move that would be aimed less at adding flash and more at stabilizing a running back room that has yet to settle into reliable form. [Read more 🡒]