GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - If there’s one group in the Packers locker room that needs to improve, it’s the pass rush.
Challenged by general manager Brian Gutkunest, and a new defensive line coach during the offseason. The feast of famine pass rush from a year ago has already resulted in a few shakeups heading into year two of Jeff Hafley’s defense.
“Got a whole year of understanding what the defense is, understanding our ins and outs, and how he wants to attack it. We had a whole year to get better at our techniques and he had a whole year to refine our system and retool things. Just going into year two, just the confidence, how we flying around, understanding play calls and where people need to hold down,” said defensive end Rashan Gary.
Green Bay finished with 45 sacks, but 20 of those came in just three games. They also finished 27th in pass rush win rate as a unit in 2024.
You could say consistency is something Green Bay’s Jekyll and Hyde pass rush is hoping to achieve this year.
“Sticking together and rushing as a unit, and just being relentless. I think (Hafley) does a great job of getting Coop and those guys in the run. I think also just getting better at rushing the passer, play action-wise. You know play action is a spot we definitely have to get better at as a unit we didn’t do a good enough job with that last year, and just quick game,” said defensive lineman Kenny Clark.
Clark revealed on Tuesday that he played through a toe injury he suffered in week one last season. He had surgery earlier in the offseason to address the toe injury.
The veteran had just one sack to go along with significant drops in tackles and tackles for loss.
“Yeah it was tough, it was tough but it is what it is. Football is football, I don’t complain. The foot is the foot, the toe is the toe. I’ve just go to keep building off of it, keep getting better this year and put my best foot forward. I had surgery on my foot in January. It was a tough year, but I’m excited, I’m back out practicing. Today was my second day doing Indy with the team. Just got to keep building forward,” said Clark.
Another member of the Packers front seven that is looking to have a rebound campaign this year is Lukas Van Ness.
Van Ness dealt with his own injury issue, a broken thumb, that hindered his ability to rush the passer last year. Now back to full health the third year defensive lineman is even getting some work inside during Organized Team Activities.
A spot that is already somewhat familiar for Van Ness, who played inside in college at Iowa.
“They’re both very different games from the inside to the outside, but I like to take my mechanics from the edge and kind of bring inside and use it to my advantage. So while there’s some changes, it’s kind of just a mental flip. You’ve got a little bit less space to work with, your moves have to be a little quicker,” said Van Ness.
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