INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Tucker Kraft lives by one motto when it comes to what he does with the football in his hands.

“Don’t let a DB tackle me in space,” the Green Bay Packers second-year tight end said.

That’s exactly what he did on his 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown — the first of two touchdowns for Kraft in Sunday’s 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.

Kraft caught the ball just past the midfield line and on his way to the end zone he encountered two members of the Rams’ secondary.

Cornerback Darious Williams, meet Kraft’s stiff arm.

Safety Quentin Lake, you’re about to be pushed aside.

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Tucker Kraft rumbles down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown

Tucker Kraft flies down the sideline and stiff-arms a defender on his way to a Packers touchdown.

Defensive defenders, you have been officially warned. If they didn’t know the words Kraft lives by before, they do now.

“Sometimes that still happens, but I always try to make the first one miss,” Kraft said. “But head down, bull in a Chinese shop. That’s exactly what I do.’

On a day when two of their starting receivers were out — Christian Watson due to a left ankle injury and Romeo Doubs due to a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team — the Packers may have just dropped the rest of the NFL on their little little secret.

“You saw something last year, especially towards the end,” Packers cornerback Eric Stokes said of Kraft. “Now he just completely took over where it is, the way Tucker plays, the way Tucker practices, it just shows up. So it’s no surprise with some of the things he does.”

On Sunday, Kraft caught four passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns. His second score put the Packers ahead 24-13 with 3:35 left in the game as Kraft fumbled seven yards on a screen. He ran through linebacker Troy Reeder on his way to the end zone.

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Tucker Kraft finds the end zone again for a Packers TD

Tucker Kraft dives over the goal line to extend the Packers’ lead over the Rams.

“Every time he touches the ball, he has the mentality that he’s trying to score,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “He’s not going to go down lightly. He’s going to run people over and stay up. He does really good things when he has the ball in his hands. I’m definitely going to keep trying to find ways to get him the ball. He’s an idiot.” He put in a great performance today.”

Kraft entered the game with a career-high three touchdowns, and he left it as the first Packers tight end with a multi-touchdown game since Robert Tonyan’s three scores in Week 4 of 2020 against the Falcons.

Not bad for someone who was listed as a TE2 behind Luke Musgrave on most preseason depth charts. Even before Musgrave’s ankle injury last week made him available only on an emergency basis against the Rams, Kraft had passed him over despite missing most of the offseason due to a torn pectoral muscle.

And not bad for a third-round pick who was seen as a developmental player coming out of South Dakota State and having played nine-man football in high school in rural Timber Lake, South Dakota. Apparently it didn’t take long for Kraft to develop.

“I mean, the guy loves the ball,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “He works. Nonstop. He’s relentless. And he’s got a great mentality. That’s all he does. He shows up, he works, he gets better. It’s been really cool to see him blossom. I think The more confidence he gets, the better he becomes.” It’s better that he’s done.”

While Kraft’s 16 catches this season don’t rank in the top 10 among tight ends, his 218 receiving yards rank fifth among all tight ends, and his yards per catch average of 13.6 is No. 1 most part of week 5 in the books. .

“I watch him every day, and he continues to make plays — the plays I know he can make,” Packers receiver Jayden Reed said. “Everyone knows he’s capable of making plays like that. Everyone knows Tuck.’

And they know what happens when he gets the ball in space.

“I usually create my own situations in the open field,” Kraft said. “Just let the first one miss.”