GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft said Wednesday that he expects to be full go come Week 1 after tearing his ACL in Week 9 last season.In his first meeting with reporters since locker cleanout day in January, Kraft said he’s doing “better than expected” physically and recently clocked 21.5 mph while sprinting. Kraft said he anticipates general manager Brian Gutekunst will start him on the physically unable to perform list to begin training camp, but head coach Matt LaFleur recently left open the possibility for Kraft to be on the field for the first training camp practice in late July.“With how I feel, I would say I’m gonna get all the conditioning I need in camp to start Week 1 on no pitch count,” Kraft said.Kraft also said he thought he was the NFL’s best tight end at the time of his injury against the Carolina Panthers in November. The stats support his claim.From Weeks 1-8 last season, Kraft ranked third among tight ends in receiving yards (469; the Colts’ Tyler Warren had 492, and the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce had 474), tied for second in touchdown catches (six; only the Eagles’ Dallas Goedert had more with seven) and first in yards after catch per reception (11.2, with second place at 7.9).“I feel like I went out as tight end (No.) 1, in my opinion,” Kraft said. “Just the things that I do at the point of attack, where I’m at on any given play, I feel like I went out at the top. … I thought that at a combination of the do-it-all Y (tight end), which is me, that there wasn’t another guy in the league that was doing it as well as I was.“Some people might think I’m delusional to say that. … The film is going to speak for itself. Outside zone, inside zone, screen game, down the field. As far as putting it all together, I felt like I was at a great spot.”Kraft expects to return to that form right away.“That’s what Week 1 is all about,” he said. “I’m not really buying into the ‘people come back off an injury and aren’t the same.’ … If you’re not coming back off your injury the same, then what are you doing? What were you doing your entire rehab?“Some people might not be the same, but they don’t speak for me.”What was Kraft doing for rehab? Well, last month, he punted a beer into the crowd at Luke Combs’ concert at Lambeau Field with his surgically repaired right leg. Surely that was part of head athletic trainer Nate Weir’s rehab plan, right?“Yes,” Kraft said. “That was light beer explosive extension.”Kraft is also likely to sign a contract extension with the Packers in the near future, as the 2023 third-round pick is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He could very well become the highest-paid tight end in the NFL this summer. That perch currently belongs to the 49ers’ George Kittle, who makes $19.1 million per year, according to Over the Cap. The Cardinals’ Trey McBride sits at $19 million per year, and the Falcons’ Kyle Pitts is third at a shade more than $15 million on the one-year franchise tag.Asked whether he wants that extension before he returns to the field, Kraft swerved around the question like he does defenses every Sunday.“I’d say my goal is I wanna play for this organization my entire career,” he said. “I’m spoiled to have been drafted here, and this is all I know. Green and gold is all I know, so we’d like to keep it that way, and my agent and the Packers’ front office, they’re gonna be in those talks in time when it comes. You guys will find out eventually.”Kraft’s absence was evident in the second half of last season. There’s nobody like him on the Packers, and not many tight ends across the entire league, if any, are capable of his all-around game.So even as the Packers prepare for a possible month and a half without their best player in edge rusher Micah Parsons to start the season, they can at least find a silver lining in one of their other cornerstones planning to return from a similar injury much sooner.“I feel great,” Kraft said. “My quad looks great. Swelling is minimal to none. No weird pains and aches coming out of my treatment and my trainings, so we’re really excited to get this ball rolling, and we’re gonna take off.”