Stokes, Gary Will Start Training Camp on PUP

Outside linebacker Rashan Gary and cornerback Eric Stokes suffered season-ending injuries in November at Detroit and will not be on the practice field for the start of camp.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Eric Stokes will open Green Bay Packers training camp on the physically unable to perform list, a source told Packer Central on Friday.

Later in the day, Stokes to PUP was made official. He was joined, not surprisingly, by star outside linebacker Rashan Gary, who is coming off a torn ACL, backup center Jake Hanson and first-year receiver Jeff Cotton.

Injured players, along with rookies and quarterbacks, reported to training camp on Friday. The first practice is set for Wednesday. Players on PUP to open training camp can be activated at any point during camp.

Stokes, so impressive as a rookie in 2021, had a dismal second season cut short when he suffered knee and foot injuries during a midseason loss at Detroit. Both injuries required surgery but it was the Lisfranc foot injury, which required the installation of a plate and two screws, that ended his season.

“From the start, it was tough, especially rolling around in a wheelchair,” Stokes said after going through rehab work during one of the offseason practices. “That was pretty much low. Since then, I got back up, got back moving, just started taking it pretty much brick by brick, day by day. It is what it is. Stuff happens. You’ve just got to adjust to it.”

Stokes’ recovery is right on track, the source said, and the Packers are taking a cautious approach with a talented player. If all goes well, he could make his training camp debut in a couple weeks.

“I couldn’t walk until about mid-January,” Stokes said. “Getting back to running, getting back to moving around, getting back to break, cutting and all that stuff, finally putting on cleats for the first time since my injury last week, so it’s like small little goals that I got in mind that I keep approaching and keep checking off.”

In replacing injured Jaire Alexander as the No. 1 corner in 2021, Stokes had an excellent rookie season that made him a candidate for All-Rookie honors. According to Pro Football Focus, of 91 corners who played at least 50 percent of the defensive snaps, Stokes finished fourth in completion percentage (51.0) and 23rd in passer rating (78.8). Even better, according to Sports Info Solutions, he ranked ninth among starting corners with a 46.2 percent catch rate.

In 2022, Stokes allowed 21 completions out of 25 targets and a 125.8 passer rating. Of all corners who played at least 250 snaps, that 84.0 percent catch rate was the worst in the league. He went from a team-high 14 passes defensed in 2021 to zero in 2022, and his yards per target more than doubled, going from 5.3 to 10.8.

After leading the team with 14 passes defensed as a rookie, he didn’t have any in his nine games. Stokes’ yards per target more than doubled from 5.3 to 10.8.

“I was out there having fun my rookie year,” Stokes said. “I didn’t care. I didn’t care what came with it. I didn’t care about anything. I was just out there playing ball. I was out there too much in my head last year. It is what it is. It’s just learning how to just be you is something I took away from it. Just learn to be you.”

With an elite combination of size and speed, Stokes remains a focal point of the long-term future. But, for now, he’s a player without a position as the Packers intend to start the season with Alexander and Rasul Douglas as the cornerbacks and Keisean Nixon in the slot.

“You always got to win your spot, no matter what,” Stokes said. “When I came in, I didn’t have a spot. I had to pretty much go get it. ... Being hurt and all that stuff, I know for a fact that like hey, nothing is guaranteed. Them boys balled without me, so it is what it is. You’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to show everybody, ‘Hey, man, I’m pretty much here and this is what I’m supposed to do.’”

Along with the four players on PUP, the Packers placed receiver Grant DuBose and tight end Camren McDonald on the Non-Football Injury List.

DuBose, a seventh-round pick, never practiced during the offseason. McDonald is an undrafted tight end.

All six players on the pre-camp injury lists count against the 90-man roster.

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