Packers’ Pass-Rushing Underachievers Believe They’ll Be Better

With the Green Bay Packers’ locker room closed for renovations, the team’s communications staff has been bringing six players into a room for interviews during organized team activities.

On Tuesday, those players included defensive tackle Kenny Clark, defensive end Rashan Gary and defensive end Lukas Van Ness. They are the faces of the team’s underachieving pass rush from 2024 and the reasons for optimism for 2025.

“In Year 2, off to a better start, man,” Gary said after practice on Tuesday. “Everybody had a great offseason up until this point getting back to OTAs, just how we been locked in Monday to Thursday. Even us meeting on the weekends, having film studies, I feel like we really locked in as a group. Things that we didn't do last year at this point.”

Gary was selected to his first Pro Bowl last year, but it wasn’t his best season. In 2023, when he was coming off a torn ACL, he had nine sacks and 22 quarterback hits, according to the official league stats. In 2024, he had 7.5 sacks and 15 pressures.

“It was an honor, privilege, man,” Gary said of his Pro Bowl selection. “For sure a trip that I would love to take every year. I was able to take my family, my nephews, give them a different scenery, give them a different look. Just realize hard work pays off.

“I was able to sit back, pick a couple brains from top pass rushers across the league. Talk to offensive linemen. Got a couple tells on what they like seeing from me and what they don’t. It’s good, man. Being able to talk to the top guys around the league, bounce ideas off each other and also compete at a high level.”

As he enters Year 7, Gary is still looking for his first 10-sack season. Comparatively speaking, though, he was an indomitable powerhouse compared to Van Ness, the 2023 first-round pick, and Clark, the three-time Pro Bowler.

For both, they hope good health will bring better results.

Last offseason, Van Ness suffered a broken thumb. Because of some “lingering issues,” he said he wore a full cast to protect it through Week 10 or 11. To give him his best chance for success, he played 92.5 percent of his snaps from the defense’s right side.

So, rather than take the cliched Year 2 jump, Van Ness went from four sacks and 10 quarterback hits as a rookie – with most of that production coming down the stretch – to three sacks and six quarterback hits in 2024.

“Playing defensive line, it’s all with your hands,” Van Ness said. “When you’re kind of limited to using the thumb, [that’s where] a lot of our moves are originated from. I don’t know if any of you guys have ever broken a thumb or hand or anything, you kind of get a little bit of a mental block. It’s taken me a little bit of time to gain some confidence again in utilizing my hand to its fullest extent.”

Clark was injured for most of the season, too. He suffered an injured toe during a Week 1 Tush Push against the Eagles on the shoddy turf in Brazil. He didn’t miss any games but played about 140 fewer snaps and had surgery in January. He returned to individual drills this week.

“It was tough. It was tough. But, it is what it is,” Clark said. “Football is football. I don’t complain. The foot is the foot, toe is the toe. I’ve got to just keep building off of it, keep getting better this year, and put my best foot forward.”

Clark had one of his best seasons in 2023 with 7.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits and nine tackles for losses – all career highs. In 2024, he had one sack, five quarterback hits and four tackles for losses. Other than his rookie season in 2016, it was the worst statistical season of his superb career.

“Every step, you know what I’m saying,” Clark said of the impact of the injury. “You’re taking every step and the toe is busting. It’s something you’ve got to deal with, but it is what it is. That’s done. I got the surgery done, and we’re moving forward.”

The Packers finished a solid 10th in sack percentage last season but 16th in pressure percentage, according to SportRadar, and 26th in pass-rush win rate, according to ESPN.

This offseason, they didn’t make any big splashes from a personnel perspective. Instead, improvement will have to come from within in Year 2 of Jeff Hafley’s scheme, better health and the potential impact of new defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, who spent his first several seasons with the Patriots working under Bill Belichick.

“Great addition,” Gary said. “I love the confidence that he has as coach because as players you have to be confident, so you see a coach that’s confident, bringing that swagger, that only makes you have more confidence and swagger. But just how he coaches from the individual to how he’s intense on the details and just how he’s focused right now and is detail oriented, really getting coached up on different techniques and things like that to make us play fast.”

For Clark, he is entering his 10th season in the league and will turn 30 in October. With last year’s injury behind him, he’s ready to reassert himself as a premier defensive tackle and help an underachieving pass rush be a force in 2025.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m so excited to play ball. Like I said, it’s going to be a huge year, I’m excited about it.”