GREEN BAY — Rashan Gary hasn’t registered a sack in six games, and even Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, his staunchest defender, admits that his defense needs the veteran defensive end to generate more pressure on opposing quarterbacks than he has of late. 

But Hafley delivered a full-throated defense of Gary’s limited recent production on Thursday during his weekly Q&A session with reporters, insisting that Gary, who signed a four-year, $96 million extension in October 2023 and is under contract through 2027, is “playing really well” despite the black-and-white numbers indicating otherwise.

After registering 4.5 sacks in the Packers’ first three games — 1.5 in the team’s Sept. 7 season-opening win over Detroit, one in a Sept. 11 win over Washington and two in a Sept. 21 loss at Cleveland —  Gary had one sack against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 19 and sacked ex-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice in a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers a week later.

He hasn’t taken down a quarterback since.

Over those past six games, Gary has 16 QB pressures, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and three QB hits — giving him 40 pressures, 16 QB hits and 7.5 sacks on the season entering this Sunday’s game at Denver.

In last Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears, Gary played 40 snaps and had one QB hit and three pressures.

For comparison, Micah Parsons has 12.5 sacks (most on the team and third-most in the NFL), 78 Next Gen Stats pressures (most in the NFL) and 26 QB hits (No. 1 on the team and No. 3 in the NFL). Although Parsons didn’t have a sack against the Bears, either, he had two quarterback hits and eight pressures on 61 snaps.

Reserve defensive end Kingsley Enagbare played 39 snaps and had his first full sack of the season along with two pressures and a quarterback hit. For the year, Enagbare has two sacks, seven QB hits and 21 pressures.

While Gary has played 541 defensive snaps (64.02%), Enagbare has played only 326 (38.58%).

Asked how he can get more out of Gary as a pass-rusher, Hafley responded with a 321-word answer, two weeks after making a similarly strong statement about him.

“Again, and I say this truthfully, Rashan is playing the run game — and I know you don’t want to hear about the run right now — [but] Rashan is playing the run game way better than he did last year, in my opinion. All right?” Hafley said. “We’re not getting many drop-back passes. We’re getting seven-man, six-man play-action protections, where it’s about rushing and converting. And a lot of times you’ve got a tight end and a tackle on you, you’ve got a tackle and a [running] back on you. So at the same time, he’s not getting as many opportunities, right?

“And then, even on these third downs, we’re getting more runs and screens on third down than I’ve ever and I’ve ever been a part of. So, do we want him to have more pressures? Certainly. I’m giving you a reason. And yes, I am defending him, because I actually think the guy’s playing really well, right? And I think a lot of times … people look at things very black and white, where you have to look deeper into it, right? And just because a guy might not have pressures in a game or sacks in a game, that doesn’t mean he didn’t play well.

“Micah Parsons didn’t have a sack in the game last week. Micah Parsons had an unbelievable game last week. I mean, he had totally affected the game, but he didn’t have a sack.

“So if you’re going to be results based, then you can call it what you want. But if you want to look deep and look at the whole process and how he truly affected every play, he had a really good game. You know? Hopefully we’ll get a chance to get in the game where the ball is going up in the air and there’s a lot more drop-back passes and a lot more opportunities to rush.”

Extra points

The only player on the 53-man roster who did not practice at all was running back Josh Jacobs (knee), who sat out for a second straight day as he tries to manage the bone bruise he suffered in his knee against the New York Giants on Nov. 16. … Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that despite practicing on a limited basis two days in a row, defensive end Lukas Van Ness (foot) is “very questionable at this point” for Sunday. … Bo Melton, who caught a 45-yard touchdown pass against the Bears is now practicing “primarily” at wide receiver but is “still doing double duty a little bit” at cornerback. … LaFleur expressed optimism that running back MarShawn Lloyd (calf), and defensive end Brenton Cox (groin), who have been designated for return from their injuries and continue to practice, “absolutely” have a chance to help the team still this season.

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