With One Block, Zach Tom Shows He’s Back

Back from his torn pectoral, standout right tackle Zach Tom took his first 11-on-11 reps of Packers training camp on Tuesday.

Green Bay Packers RT Zach Tom / MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Midway through Tuesday’s practice at Green Bay Packers training camp, Jordan Love took a deep drop. Love was looking to strike downfield. It’s the type of play that requires exemplary pass protection.

For the better part of the first 10 practices, Love and the quarterbacks didn’t get that protection. With the return of right tackle Zach Tom from a torn pectoral, Love had time and threw a strike to Dontayvion Wicks. Helping to make it happen was Tom, who stopped Rashan Gary, who had been unstoppable for most of training camp.

Does that play help show Tom that he’s ready to roll?

“Yeah, for sure,” Tom said after taking his first live reps of training camp. “Obviously, going up against him, that’s probably one of hardest people I’m going to have to block on a year-to-year basis. If you’re able to block him, then that definitely does give me confidence that I could go into a game and play well.

“Now, it’s just about getting the wind back and being able to play six-, eight-play drives, because today I was only doing three plays at a time. It’s about getting the conditioning back, and that’ll come with time.”

Tom last season emerged as one of the best right tackles in the NFL. Week after week, Tom faced a top pass rusher. Week after week, Tom emerged a clear winner.

Tom suffered a torn pectoral during an offseason workout. He started going through individual drills two weeks ago. At Family Night on Saturday, he worked against defensive lineman Spencer Waege during a lengthy special teams period.

“I was doing that all last week. You could say that was the last hurdle,” Tom said. “They wanted to give me some live-ish reps against Spencer. That was good. That was good to prepare me for this week. Now, we’re obviously to the next step, which would be me playing in a game.”

Tom won’t play on Saturday against the Browns.

“If there was a regular-season game this week, I don’t know what the trainers would say, but I’d feel good about playing this week if it was a regular-season game, to be honest,” Tom said. “Next week? I mean, obviously, if I feel good about playing this week, I’d feel good about playing next week, too. But I feel like if I had to, I’d be able to go out there and manage it. Like I said, no limitations. The only thing would be the conditioning.”

A fourth-round pick in 2022, Tom was a valuable backup who started five games. Last year, he was the runaway winner at right tackle. Having played 1,158 snaps last year, Tom thinks he’ll be ready to roll in no time.

“Probably a couple days,” he said.

Tom admitted to feeling rusty. But only at the start of practice.

“I felt a little hesitant, but I feel as practice went on and on, I got more and more confident and I was able to move my feet a little bit quicker,” he said. “First team period is probably where I knocked off all the rust because that’s our run period and that’s the most physical thing we do. So, once I got through that, I was pretty much full go.”

Tom plays a position that requires superior strength. A torn pectoral, however, limited his ability to be strong. He’s getting there, though. With one month until the regular season begins against the Philadelphia Eagles, Tom has time to build his strength and continue to rehab the injury.

“It’s one of those injuries where I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get back 100” percent, he said. “I don’t know if it’s every going to be back to 100, to be honest. It’s one of those things where the only way you’re going to know if you’re ready is if you try to go play football. After today, it felt pretty good. Now, we’ve got to keep building days and keep getting better.”

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

What happened today at #Packers training camp?

A lot.

Here's everything you need to know, including Jordan Love, Brenton Cox and a lot of practice highlights. ⬇️https://t.co/jBCzgXYtMx

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 7, 2024

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Training camp highlights: Practice 11 | Family Night | Practice 9 | Practice 8 | Practice 7 | Practice 6 | Practice 5 | Practice 4 | Practice 3 | Practice 2 | Practice 1