The Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 at AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, for the Packers’ defense, one of their EDGE rushers is believed to have suffered a serious knee injury.
The Green Bay Packers fear that one of their young EDGE rushers suffered an ACL injury
Kingsley Enagbare left the game in the fourth quarter due to a knee injury and was later spotted on crutches in the locker room. The fear is that Enagbare tore his ACL.
Here’s head coach Matt LaFleur’s reaction to Enagbare’s injury:
“My heart hurts right now for J.J.,” LaFleur said, using Enagbare’s nickname. “It doesn’t look good for him. So it’s kind of bittersweet, any time you have a guy go out like that. It’s a tough thing to deal with, and just, with him in the locker room, and a lot of guys hurt for him right now.”
Enagbare was a backup EDGE rusher who appeared in 41% of defensive snaps. He had 37 tackles, eight for a loss, six quarterback hits, two sacks, one pass deflection, one forced fumble, and 11 pressures during the regular season, and had one tackle and quarterback hits against Dallas.
Here are the two backup EDGE rushers whose roles will increase.
EDGE rusher number one
The first backup pass rusher whose role will increase is Lukas Van Ness. Green Bay drafted Van Ness in the 1st round, 13th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Van Ness has appeared in every game and had 32 tackles, eight for a loss, ten quarterback hits, four sacks, one pass deflection, and 12 pressures during the regular season, and had three tackles, one for a loss, one quarterback hit, and one sack against Dallas.
EDGE rusher number two
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
The second backup pass rusher whose role will likely increase is Brenton Cox. Cox went undrafted during the 2023 NFL Draft, and Green Bay signed Cox as an undrafted free agent.
Cox competed for the last outside linebacker spot on the roster. After a strong training camp and preseason, Cox made the 53-man roster.
Cox has been a healthy scratch in 13 out of 17 games and did not play against Dallas.
Since Cox was the fifth pass rusher on the depth chart, he will likely take over as the fourth pass rusher due to the injury to Enagbare.
What is the impact of losing Enagbare?
Losing Kingsley Enagbare negatively impacts the Packers’ pass rush because he was a reliable backup. Having a reliable backup pass rusher is crucial for the defense as it allows the starters to rest, which makes them more effective when they return to the field.
Hopefully, Enagbare will have a speedy recovery.
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