The Green Bay Packers lost a big asset just before the start of the 2025 NFL regular season when they traded veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys.
Although that was a move the Packers did in order toacquire superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons, many thought that Green Bay’s run defense would regress with Clark gone. For Green Bay defensive lineman Colby Wooden, such an assumption is an affront to him and the team’s defense.
After just one game in the 2025 campaign, Wooden hopes that he and Green Bay’s defense have flipped that notion, given how incredible the team’s stop unit performed on the ground in thePackers’ 27-13 victory over the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Wooden sounds off on disrespectful claim after Green Bay’s win No. 1 in 2025 season
Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta (87) makes a catch against Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) an defensive tackle Colby Wooden (96) during the second half at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Sunday, September 7, 2025.
The Packers had tremendous success against Detroit’s ground attack on Sunday, as the Lions managed to record just a total of 46 rushing yards in 22 carries.
That’s for a mere average of 2.1 yards per rushing attempt. Detroit running back David Montgomery only had 25 rushing yards on 11 carries, while another Lions tailback, Jahmyr Gibbs, mustered just 19 rushing yards on nine attempts.
Wooden said that he was fueled by the noise about how Green Bay would have trouble stopping the run without Clark.
“Oh, I for sure took that personal. My dad called me Thursday, ‘Do me a favor. Shut them up,'” shared Wooden after the Lions game, perRyan Wood of USA Today. “So I just did my job, went out there and stopped the run. I took it personal, honestly. I felt like it was kind of disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they’re going to run the ball.’ So I made it my mission to – we, sorry… I? we made it our mission to stop the run.”
The 24-year-old Wooden had six combined tackles (three solo) and a pair of tackles for losses with a quarterback hit against the Lions. He will look to sustain that form when Green Bay takes on the Washington Commanders at home in Week 2 on Sept. 11.
Sep 7, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) and Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Colby Wooden (96) tackle an airborne Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta (87) during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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