Bad news would be better than the news circulating around the Green Bay Packers these days. Along with suffering their fifth straight loss on Sunday, the Packers suffered another setback as pass rusher Rashan Gary has a torn ACL, according to NFL Media.
Gary sustained the injury during Sunday's 15-9 loss to the Lions that dropped Green Bay to 3-6 on the season. The four-year veteran was off to a strong start this season. He had six sacks, seven tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery prior to sustaining his injury. Gary was coming off of a 2021 season that saw him record a career-high 9.5 sacks during his first season as a full-time starter.
With Gary out, Kingsley Enagbare and Jonathan Garvin are in line to receive more reps with the Packers' first-team defense. A fifth-round pick in April's draft, Enagbare has two sacks and 11 tackles this season. He racked up 15 sacks, 24 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles during his career at South Carolina. Garvin, a three-year veteran and former seventh-round pick, has three tackles in seven games this season.
All season long, injuries have plagued the Packers, who are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time under Matt LaFleur. Linebacker De'Vondre Campbell, linemen David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, and wideouts Allen Lazard, Christian Watson and Randall Cobb are among the Packers' players who have battled injuries this season. Running back Aaron Jones left Sunday's game after injuring his ankle, and rookie receiver Romeo Doubs was carted off with an ankle injury.
The Packers also had a difficult week in the front office after trying and failing to acquire a receiver before the deadline. Green Bay's lack of healthy offensive weapons contributed to the offense scoring 14 points or less on Sunday for the third time this season.
While things are looking bleak in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers, who threw three interceptions in Sunday's loss, is not giving up hope.
"When I decided to come back it was all-in, and I don't make decisions and then hindsight 20/20 have regrets about big decisions like that," Rodgers said after Sunday's loss, via NFL.com. "So it was all-in, and this is a lot of life lessons for sure this year. But luckily it's not over. There's a lot of games left. We'll be counted out -- probably by many. And we'll see how we respond."