Healthy Outlooks for Injured Packers Starters

Here are updates on injured defensive starters Rashan Gary and Eric Stokes as well as the outlook for left tackle David Bakhtiari.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 1, 2023 6:30 PM EST
Original:
Mar 1, 2023

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Green Bay Packers

INDIANAPOLIS – Rashan Gary’s comeback from his torn ACL is encouraging.

And not surprising.

“All the reports are good,” Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine on Tuesday. “Obviously, we get to see him here every once in a while when he’s back in town. As you guys know, Rashan, he’s going to attack this thing like he plays. He feels really good, feels confident.”

According to a source, Gary is “progressing well and is ahead of schedule. His goal is to be ready by opening day. He is anxious to get back on the field and help his team advance to a championship.”

Gary suffered a torn ACL during the Week 9 game at Ford Field in Detroit on Nov. 6. If the Packers kick off the 2023 NFL season on a Sunday, their first game would be on Sept. 9. That would be about 10 months.

In theory, that should be enough time to at least have a part-time role in the opener, but every ACL injury is different. For an apples-to-apples comparison between dates and positions, Washington Commanders pass rusher Chase Young suffered a torn ACL on Nov. 14, 2021, and made his practice debut 11 1/2 months later.

Gary stayed in Green Bay for a few weeks after the season and is expected back with everyone else for the start of the offseason program on April 17. Between his workouts in Atlanta and Texas, he’s stayed in touch with head athletic trainer Bryan Engel.

Gary, who is entering his fifth season, is in line for a monster payday. He had six sacks in eight-and-half games in 2022. According to Pro Football Focus, of 100 edge defenders with at least 200 pass-rushing snaps, Gary ranked second in pass-rushing productivity, a metric that measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and eighth in pass-rush win rate.

“We expect a full recovery and we’ll ease him back into it like we always do [with injured players] in training camp. We’re very optimistic there,” Gutekunst said.

Cornerback Eric Stokes, whose big-time rookie season was followed by a sophomore slump and a season-ending ankle injury in that same game at Detroit, is on track to practice at the start of training camp, according to sources.

“Eric has had zero setbacks and is ahead of schedule,” a source said. “He plans to be in Green Bay for the offseason program to continue his rehab and training. There is no set timetable for him to be back at 100 percent, but he is not expected to miss any portion of camp.”

Meanwhile, Gutekunst is as bullish on left tackle David Bakhtiari’s career as Bakhtiari himself. Speaking after the season, Bakhtiari said he was eager to spend the offseason training for football rather than rehabbing his three-times-repaired knee.

Releasing Bakhtiari to create additional cap space is not a consideration. Rather, after not giving up a single sack in 11 starts, he’ll be a building block of what the Packers hope will be a healthy and powerful offensive line.

“Certainly, when he’s in there, we’re a top-notch unit and having him out there was really important for us,” Gutekunst said. “Him getting into his rhythm and flow of how to get through the week and really to be able to perform at his highest level on Sundays was really important for us.

“I think we’re over that hump and he kind of has an idea what he needs to do week-to-week to get out there and perform at that level. When he’s playing like that, it just is kind of a trickle-down effect and I think the whole unit as a whole played really, really well the second half of the season.”