What to know: Packers activate Rashan Gary off PUP and Grant DuBose off NFI lists

The Green Bay Packers activated edge rusher Rashan Gary off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Monday, meaning he passed his physical and will be available to practice. Rookie wide receiver Grant DuBose is also coming off the non-football injury (NFI) list as well, according to Rob Demovsky, making him eligible to practice for the first time since joining the team.

Prior to Monday’s practice, Matt LaFleur said that Gary would be available, but only going to through individual drills and potentially some walkthroughs. We will not being seeing him in team drills at this point, and I’m guessing there will be a ramp up period before he is back in that capacity.

Gary suffered an ACL injury in Week 9 against Detroit last season, missing the remainder of the season. He spent the offseason rehabbing and was placed on the PUP list once training camp began.

"“One thing I told myself is, throughout this process, I’m taking it day by day,” said Gary last month via Bill Huber of SI. “I’m just making sure I’m squeezing the towel as much as I can every day, making sure I’m not leaving not one inch of doubt of if I pushed it to my all, so that’s all, man. Just going 100 percent day by day and we’ll see where I’ll be.”"

Before his injury, Gary was one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL, ranking third among his position group in pass rush win rate through Week 9 and fifth in PFF’s run-stop rate metric. As expected, the Packers defensive front greatly missed Gary’s presence in both aspects. The Green Bay defense as a whole finished the season ranked 22nd in pressures, and the edge rushers were inconsistent at best against the run.

At least on paper, the depth of the edge rusher position looks much improved compared to this time last year. Starting next to Gary will be Preston Smith, and as rotational players the Packers have JJ Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness, along with Justin Hollins, who may not be a roster lock, but has seen his fair share of snaps with the starters this summer, and performed well in 2022 against both the run and pass, along with taking on a leadership role in that position room. Undrafted rookie Brenton Cox is a high upside player who could make a roster push as well.

Also returning is DuBose, who has been sidelined all offseason, yet to participate in a practice. LaFleur revealed a few weeks ago that he has been dealing with a back injury.

For DuBose, he is going to have to play catch up as a rookie—as LaFleur has said, there is no substitute for actual practice reps, regardless of how hard a player is working off the field. It is not a guarantee that the Packers will keep six receivers, given how often tight ends and running backs are used in the passing game, the sixth receiver’s role on offense will be quite small, but DuBose is going to be competing with Malik Heath and Bo Melton for that role, two players who have been able to build momentum over the last two weeks.

It is not known in what capacity DuBose will be participating right away.