Packer Central

Emotional Rashan Gary Returns to Detroit, Gets Three Sacks, Game Ball vs. Lions

“I’m an emotional guy, but it’s probably one of the most emotional times I’ve been, just off the circumstance of it all,” Packers star Rashan Gary said after dominating the Lions.

Bill Huber

Emotional Rashan Gary Returns to Detroit, Gets Three Sacks, Game Ball vs. Lions
Emotional Rashan Gary Returns to Detroit, Gets Three Sacks, Game Ball vs. Lions /
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DETROIT – Exactly 382 days earlier, Green Bay Packers star Rashan Gary was driven off Ford Field on a cart, having just sustained a torn ACL.

On Sunday, it was Gary inflicting the pain on the Detroit Lions with three sacks and two forced fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown, as the Packers rolled to a jarringly dominant 29-22 victory over the NFC North front-runners.

Gary, who was brought to tears when allowed to practice for the first time in training camp, was emotional again after being given a game ball by coach Matt LaFleur.

“As everybody knows, this is my return from the field that I got injured at,” Gary said. “Throughout this whole time, there’s been a lot of emotion. I was praying, trying to keep my head cool. I’m just happy that I had the opportunity to step on the field and God took over.

“That’s why I was emotional, man. Coming back to the spot where I had my first major injury to be able perform how I performed and win the game most importantly.”

Sacks come in bunches, pass rushers like to say, and that’s been true for Gary. He’s 12th in the league with 8.5 sacks and closing in on the first 10-sacks season of his career. After going four games without a sack, he had four in span of five days.

There have been 16 individual games of three-plus sacks this season. Gary and Jacksonville’s Josh Allen are the only players to do it twice.

“It was awesome, especially him tearing his ACL out here last year,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “We’ve been talking about it all week, him coming back and having a great performance and he did that.”

Gary has 31 sacks in his career. No. 29 might have been his biggest.

The Packers struck first to lead 7-0, only for the Lions to race right down for the answer. When the Packers answered immediately, it looked like a shootout would be the main course on the Thanksgiving menu.

Instead, on second-and-12, Gary made the play of the game when he knocked the ball out of quarterback Jared Goff’s hand just as he was set to throw. Gary took his rush around veteran left tackle Taylor Decker while Clark stormed up the middle. Goff stepped up in the pocket, only to be hit from behind by Gary.

“I was able to wrap around Kenny and I seen Goff winding up,” Gary said. “I was just praying I got there in time. I know I tipped the ball; I didn’t know what it was going to be. When I got up, I saw J.O. in the end zone, so I said, ‘Oh that’s what’s up.’”

What’s up was safety Jonathan Owens celebrating a touchdown that put the Packers permanently in control.

“I seen him hit it out. I just picked it up,” Owens said. “That's what you’ve got to do. Every loose ball on the ground, just pick it up and run.”

Gary’s 30th career sack came when he chased down Goff on a scramble. His third sack of the day came on fourth-and-7 from Green Bay’s 31 early in the fourth quarter and helped preserve the victory.

Afterward, LaFleur gave the whole team the game ball, then handed out a special one for Gary.

“I really can’t get my words together, but the only thing I can say is I’m blessed and fortunate,” he said. “I want to give all thanks to my higher power, my family members that kept me locked in, kept me out of my head, especially going into this week.

“I said it’s a really emotional week. Being able to come back, first off, leave the game healthy as where I (started), that’s what I asked my Holy Father for and he blessed me to leave the game healthy and he blessed me a little bit extra. It’s great to be back, great to get a win and I’m happy to get this past me.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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