After the Green Bay Packers finished last season with a major surge, many are expecting great things from them this fall and winter.

Even though many picked them to miss the playoffs in 2023, the Packers won six of their last eight regular-season games, snagged a playoff spot, and upset the Dallas Cowboys on the road, 48-32.

As teams across the NFL hold offseason workouts, head coach Matt LaFleur said that linebacker Lukas Van Ness suffered a broken thumb, but it isn’t expected to affect the team come the start of the regular season, per Ryan Wood.

Matt LaFleur on Lukas Van Ness' injury situation: "He broke his thumb a little bit. Just the tip."

Not fun. Also not significant for the fall.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) May 29, 2024

Van Ness was the No. 13 overall pick in last year’s draft by Green Bay after playing two seasons of college football at the University of Iowa.

As a rookie, he didn’t start a single game, but he did appear in all 17 regular-season contests and recorded 4.0 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, eight tackles, for loss and 32 total tackles (24 solo).

The Packers have a fairly young defense, and some have been high on its potential for a little while, but they will need plenty of internal improvement to keep moving on an upward trajectory.

However, they did bring in stud safety Xavier McKinney to give new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley an additional weapon to deploy in his secondary.

Last year, Green Bay was 10th in points allowed, but they had trouble forcing turnovers and stopping the run.

This year, the NFC North looks improved, which means they will have to hold off the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings in order to make the playoffs again, and that won’t be easy.

The post Matt LaFleur Reveals Packers Defender Broke His Thumb appeared first on The Cold Wire.