Gary’s ACL Part of Painful Loss for Packers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers had largely avoided major injuries through the first half of the season. That changed on Sunday at Detroit.
During a shocking 15-9 loss to the Lions, four starters were unable to finish the game.
- Outside linebacker Rashan Gary sustained a torn ACL. His season is over.
- Cornerback Eric Stokes sustained knee and ankle injuries. His season could be over.
- Running back Aaron Jones and receiver Romeo Doubs suffered ankle injuries. Jones could play on Sunday against Dallas, according to coach Matt LaFleur. Doubs might be out through the bye with a high-ankle sprain, according to a source.
The major blow was Gary’s knee injury, which came when he tried to change directions on the first play of the third quarter. A source on Tuesday would not elaborate beyond saying "it could have been worse." He projected a nine- to 11-month recovery, which is a bit longer than the standard comeback from a "clean" tear of the ligament.
After a breakout season last year, Gary had hoped to emerge as one of the top edge defenders in the NFL this season. At one point, he had the fifth-shortest odds for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Instead, his season ended with six sacks.
“It’s a tremendous loss,” LaFleur said on Monday. “Not only just from obviously a production standpoint. He is a guy that just competes at the highest level. He is one of the grittiest guys that’s on this team. And just the effort that he brings on a daily basis is definitely going to be missed.”
Veteran Preston Smith will be joined by rookie Kingsley Enagbare as the starting tandem. Enagbare had zero sacks and, according to Pro Football Focus, zero quarterback pressures in the first five games. He had two sacks and six pressures the last four games.
“He’s been getting better week in and week out,” Gary said of Enagbare on Thursday. “He’s starting to understand the standard of our room and being an outside linebacker here and understanding what it means to be a Packer. I’m just happy that, the more reps that he gets, that he’s taking full advantage. You see him getting better on the practice field, and what he does on the practice field translates to the game field. I’m just happy for his success. He’s a hungry player.”
The other two outside linebackers on the payroll are Jonathan Garvin, who was a healthy scratch the previous two weeks before playing at Detroit, and practice-squad player La’Darius Hamilton.
“The other guys around on that defense and on our team are going to have to pick it up because it’s hard to replace a guy like that,” LaFleur said. “This guy just battles. You guys all see it, so he’s an ultimate competitor.
Also, linebacker Krys Barnes, after missing seven games with an ankle injury, suffered a concussion. He was doing better as of Monday, a source said. Receiver Christian Watson, who suffered a concussion at Buffalo last week, did not suffer one when he was knocked out of the game at Detroit.
“That was all precautionary,” LaFleur said. “I think that’s just kind of the times that we live in right now and with what transpired vs. Buffalo. But it was 100 percent ruled that it was not a concussion. Matter of fact, he was dying to go back in the game, and we thought it was best to shut him down because of what transpired in Buffalo. To his credit, he was adamant and he cleared everything. So, I know he took a nice shot in the chest and he lost his breath for a minute. It’s unfortunate.”
Receiver continues to be sore spot. Pun intended, in this case. Randall Cobb must spend one more week on injured reserve, Doubs is out, Allen Lazard is at less than full strength and Sammy Watkins has been ineffective.
It will be a big challenge against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Dallas is 6-2 and has given up less than 20 points in six of eight games.
“What’s unfortunate is just thinking back to the last couple weeks, I feel like there has been more urgency and intentional practice in everything we’re doing and it’s not leading to the results we want,” LaFleur said. “So, I challenged everybody to dig a little bit deeper and continue to look at yourself and ask yourself, ‘What can I do better?’ Because we need that, the collective effort in order for us to make that jump and come out in top. But everybody’s extremely frustrated. I know in my time in the league, I’ve never experienced a five-game losing streak. So, it’s been frustrating, but it is what it is.”
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