Will Nate Hobbs Be Ready for the Lions?

When Green Bay Packers cornerback Nate Hobbs opted for knee surgery early in training camp, it was with an eye on being 100 percent healthy for the start of the regular season.

After practice on Thursday, with the season-opening game against the Detroit Lions exactly 10 days away and Hobbs still on the sideline, he spoke with cautious optimism that he’d be ready.

“We’re going to see how we do next week. That’s all I’m going to leave at it,” he said.

While Hobbs has been away from the practice field, he has been at the facility. Having gone through the entire offseason program, he knows what’s going on and will be ready to roll, whenever he’s given the green light from the medical staff, from that perspective.

“Mentally, I’m always ready,” he said. “Mentally, it doesn’t matter what happens. My mental’s going to be ready. As far as the training staff, they’re going to make the right decision. I trust them. If I didn’t trust them, I wouldn’t be here. I trust them and the team and the decision; I trust myself, as well.”

Obviously, the lack of practice time isn’t ideal as Hobbs acclimates to the new defense. He hasn’t practiced since late July and sat out the entire preseason. Whatever amount of practice reps he gets before he steps on the field, he’ll make it work.

“Honestly, I feel like I’ve had all the practice that I really need,” he said. “Of course, we practice to be better every day. Any day and anything in practice you can get an edge on your opponent, that’s great, but I feel like I’m different. This is part of being different. Sometimes you may have to come back on less reps, and I’ve did that before. It’s not the first time I did and probably won’t be the last.”

Hobbs spent most of his career in the slot but was signed to start on the perimeter alongside Keisean Nixon. From the start of training camp, Hobbs looked to set the tone and raise the mentality of the entire defense.

“We definitely miss Nate out there,” defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley said during training camp. “He’s a cornerstone of the secondary. He’s an ultracompetitor. He has the competitive stamina to do it down in, down out. If you got a ball of clay and you just could carve up a defensive back, you’re probably going to come up with Nate Hobbs somewhere in that mold.”

The depth at the position during his absence has impressed Hobbs. Bo Melton’s confidence during what should have been a difficult position change stood out to Hobbs from the start, and Kamal Hadden is going to be a “big part” of this year’s team.

But Hobbs knows the expectations. The Packers signed him to a four-year, $48 million contract in free agency. As it turned out, he’s the lone replacement to a cornerback corps in which 1,026 snaps from last season are no longer with the team.

Hobbs came to Green Bay with talent and a mindset but also with an injury history. A fifth-round pick by the Raiders in 2021, he missed 16 games the last three seasons and started only once last season.

He’s spent the better part of a month doing everything possible to get prepared for the regular season while not practicing with his teammates.

“Yeah, I think 85 percent of this league, it’s the mental aspect of it, it’s the mental part of this game,” Hobbs said. “I think the mental strain and the toughness for me along with just being sharp, it’s like some guys aren’t going to get those reps.

“Some guys who are 2s, they got to be on their sh** when they get in, when their name’s called. Some guys, they don’t even get a lot of reps in the week and they’ve got a game and somebody goes down and they got to get right up. So, I feel like if they can do it, I can do it.”