The Green Bay Packers have been without a few key contributors on the defensive side of the ball at the start of training camp. One of those players is star pass rusher, Rashan Gary.
Rashan Gary has been recovering from a torn ACL that was suffered during the Packers’ Week 9 matchup last season with the Detroit Lions. As a result, he opened up training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
There had been some news in weeks that Rashan Gary was moving closer to making his much-anticipated return. His presence has been felt at the practice field despite him not taking part as he has been in the defensive huddle.
Now, he will be in the huddle for real, as the Packers are going to be activating him off the PUP list on Monday. Rashan Gary will be eligible to get on the field as soon as Monday, as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the team will be making the move prior to practice.
Fowler noted that the team will be taking things slowly with Rashan Gary, but the ramping-up process has begun. That is excellent news for the Packers, as there were some serious doubts about when their star pass rusher would be back on the field.
“LaFleur said Gary will take part only in individual drills to start on Monday. The Packers still have over four weeks before Week 1 in Chicago, giving Gary ample time to get ready for the start of the regular season,” per Zach Kruse of Packers Wire.
Prior to the injury last season, Rashan Gary was in the midst of a breakout season. He was top-10 in multiple pass-rushing categories and was cementing his status as one of the best young pass rushers in the NFL.
Despite playing in only nine games, he still finished second on the Packers with 6.0 sacks on the season. Preston Smith led the team with 8.5, but without Rashan Gary in the lineup, Green Bay’s pass rush was anemic.
The Packers can afford to take their time easing the Michigan product back into action as they used their first-round pick on Lukas Van Ness out of Iowa. He will help take some pressure off of the 2019 first-round pick as he rounds back into shape to create what could be a strong pass-rushing trio for Green Bay to rely on.
