28 Days Until Training Camp: Biggest Question at Outside Linebacker

Green Bay Packers star Rashan Gary is one of the best defenders and pass rushers in the NFL. When will he return to action and vintage form following a torn ACL?

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jun 28, 2023 2:36 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There is no question about Rashan Gary on the field. The 25-year-old Green Bay Packers outside linebacker isn’t just one of the NFL’s best young players. He’s one of the NFL’s best players, period.

Where there are questions – and they are big ones – with 28 days until the first practice of Packers training camp:

- When will Gary return to action following last year’s torn ACL? Is Week 1 at Chicago a possibility?

“I’ll be ready when I’ll be ready,” Gary said during minicamp.

- When will Gary return to form following an injury that often takes a year to return to the field but another year to return to peek performance?

“I’m still the same guy,” he said. “Ain’t nothing changed.”

- When will Gary, who will be playing under the fifth-year option, put pen to paper on a long-term contract that will, A, ensure he’s a member of the Packers for the long haul while, B, providing some immediate cap relief?

“I don’t think about that,” Gary said. “I didn’t even know it was that time.”

From a pure production standpoint, Gary has been good but not great. He’s still seeking his first 10-sack season, having fallen a half-sack short in 2021 and recording six in nine games in 2022. Three forced fumbles in four seasons aren’t great, either. However, it’s the deeper numbers that tell the story.

According to Pro Football Focus, which ranked Gary the eighth-best edge defender in the league, Gary over the last two seasons ranks second among his peers in pass-rush productivity, a metric that combines sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and fourth in pass-rush win percentage.

A powerful and relentless player, Gary is a tone-setter. There’s little doubt that tone-setting will continue in Green Bay. The Packers, obviously, want Gary causing havoc for the next several years, and Gary spoke of a “love” for the franchise that prevented him from getting too far down in the dumps following the injury.

“I wasn’t thinking about what I was going through” after the injury, he said. “I was literally just thinking about just letting down this team, bro. You feel me? I love these guys, love the organization, love the opportunity, the chances that they gave me. But when I got hurt, I wasn’t thinking about me. I was thinking about how to help this team from where I can and what I can do.”

The first practice of training camp is scheduled for July 26. More likely than not, Gary will open camp on the physically unable to perform list, which means he won’t be on the practice field and opens the door to the possibility that he will open the regular season on PUP, as well. Starting the season on PUP means the player can’t even practice for the first four weeks. So, barring a setback, that seems unlikely.

It’s worth noting that tight end Robert Tonyan tore his ACL on Oct. 28, 2021, but started in Week 1 of 2022, and Elgton Jenkins tore his ACL on Nov. 21, 2021, but started in Week 2 of 2022. Gary suffered his torn ACL on Nov. 6, 2022.

Based on the timelines of Tonyan and Jenkins, it’s certainly possible that Gary will be on the opening roster and play right away. Given Gary’s 100 mph personality, you know he’ll push for it. On the other hand, because of his critical importance to the team and what’s at stake financially, general manager Brian Gutekunst and Gary’s agent, Ian Clarke, might want to proceed with caution.

With how well the Packers played down the stretch last season – no games of more than 20 points over the final five weeks – and with first-round pick Lukas Van Ness providing some insurance, expect a measured, gradual return to action in hopes that Gary will be ready for full-throttle performances down the stretch.