Eric Stokes was incredibly happy to just be back on the field with his teammates.
Sitting on the sidelines only made Stokes love football more.
Oh, 110 percent. Once that thing is taken away from you, you start realizing practice, you start realizing walk-throughs, you start realizing little things you took for granted and you’re like, man, I can’t wait til I come back." Stokes said.
"My first day doing indy, I couldn’t wait to be around Sul and Key and all them just to laugh, just to joke around, it’s like little small things you just look past on the daily that you’re just like, I actually miss doing all them little stuff. 110 percent, this thing done showed me I love it even more."
As it turns out, football is a cruel sport that reared its ugly head on Sunday afternoon.
Stokes was activated last week before the Packers took on the Denver Broncos. It was his first game since a horrific injury that robbed him of the back half of the 2022 season along with the start of 2023.
His return did not see him get on the field on defense.
Stokes was relegated to special teams duty and limped off with a hamstring injury.
Sunday's injury is different than the one that bothered him during training camp as he attempted to come back from his initial injury.
Training camp's injury issue was his right hamstring.
His new injury is his left hamstring, and will cause him to end up on injured reserve Matt LaFleur confirmed to Green Bay media during his Wednesday press conference.
LaFleur did say the team believed he would be back this year, but this is a disappointing outcome for Stokes.
Stokes was coming off a disappointing second season that followed a strong rookie year that had the Packers dreaming of having three top-tier corners in their defensive backfield.
Now, Stokes and the Packers are left with more questions than answers.
This news comes on the same day the Packers made three moves in the secondary in hopes of bolstering a cornerback room that has become paper-thin.
Last week Joe Barry said that adding Stokes to a secondary that already included Keisean Nixon, Jaire Alexander, and Rasul Douglas was a champagne problem.
They have gone from champagne problems to a beer budget in the blink of an eye.
Stokes will miss at least the next four games. Darnell Savage will as well,
He was placed on injured reserve according to ESPN's Rob Demovsky.
Jaire Alexander has missed three games already this year with a barking back, and it's unclear what his status will be week-to-week.
The coaches and players will continue to talk about the next man up, but there aren't many men left.
Stokes was hoping to be one of them. Instead, he's back on the shelf, waiting for his next opportunity.
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