Sunday will be a big opportunity for the Packers’ inexperienced edge rushers

Posted by Admin September 18, 2026 NFL

Green Bay Packers edge rusher Lukas Van Ness was officially listed as questionable on Friday after being a limited participant in practice throughout the week. If Van Ness can’t play Sunday against the New York Jets, the Packers won’t have much experience to lean on in his absence.

At the moment, there are only three other edge rushers on the team’s 53-man roster: Barryn Sorrell (who was cleared for the game after dealing with a foot issue that limited him in practice this week), Brenton Cox Jr. and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton.

For perspective, here were the Packers’ snap counts, among edge defenders, in 2025 — including the playoffs but excluding the Week 18 JV game:

Van Ness: 310 (questionable with a concussion)

Yes, if Van Ness doesn’t suit up, the Packers will be out 92 percent of their 2025 edge rusher snaps going into Week 2’s action. Their EDGE5 and EDGE6 from last year could very well make starts on Sunday, including Cox — who played just four snaps in the team’s playoff game against the Chicago Bears last year.

Because of the limited experience and numbers, I could see the team pivoting to their packages where linebacker Edgerrin Cooper plays on the edge more than they did in Week 1 (they flashed these sets a lot in the preseason, for what it’s worth). The other thing the team is probably going to do, if they don’t have Van Ness, is call up someone from the practice squad to just give them another body. Arron Mosby has played a lot of games for the Packers, but he’s mostly here to contribute on special teams, not defense. Because of the short numbers, I actually expect rookie Nyjalik Kelly to get a look over Mosby, if push comes to shove, because of what he can do on defense.

Hard to know what a unit of Sorrell, Cox, Dennis-Sutton and Kelly could do on Sunday, because we’ve hardly ever seen the projected starters in starting roles, and the rookies have hardly played NFL football yet (Dennis-Sutton missed the first two preseason games with an overheating issue). On paper, though, if Van Ness can’t go, the Packers’ EDGE5 and EDGE6 from last year will be starting, with two rookies being the only other rotational options available. If nothing else, we’ll get a lot more data points on where Green Bay‘s young pass-rushers are in their progression.