The Green Bay Packers are extremely confident going into the 2024 season. After the offense put it all together during the latter half of the 2023 season, fan have high expectations going into next year.
That being said, the expectations on defense remain high as well. While the defense seemingly disappointed every year Joe Barry was the defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley has brought a new energy to that side of the ball.
Today, Hafley got some pretty incredible news.
Jeff Hafley And The Green Bay Packers Defense Get Huge News At Practice

According to Ryan Wood of USA Today:
After skipping last week’s voluntary session, #Packers veterans Elgton Jenkins, Rashan Gary and Preston Smith are present at this week’s OTAs.
Rashan Gary has recorded 31.5 sacks in his first five years in the NFL. Those numbers are significantly lower than those of Nick Bosa (53.5), Brian Burns (46.0), Josh Allen (45), and Montez Sweat (41.5) who were drafted the same year as him. Obviously, they played more snaps, but that’s a factor that has to be considered when analyzing the Packers’ strategy.
Despite this, there is reason for optimism – which is why the Packers extended his contract last year for four years and $96 million.
Smith, who was an extremely versatile 3-4 outside linebacker, could lose his starting job down the stretch. He was often used as the drop outside linebacker in five-down fronts by former defensive coordinator Joe Barry because of his ability to drop back into coverage at 6’5″ and 265 pounds. Smith, however, agreed to a pay cut in 2024 that will save Green Bay $2.4 million in cap space this year. If he can transition to being a full-time pass-rusher he has the opportunity to make $4 million back in incentives.
Either way, getting both of these players back on the field after missing voluntary workouts is huge for the defense.
Elgton Jenkins Will Look To Be The Anchor Of The Offensive Line

Despite injuries, Jenkins has proved himself to be one of the best offensive lineman on the Packers’ roster. In fact, he could be one of the better guards in the entire NFL.
Getting him back on the offensive line (and healthy) will be a huge boost to Jordan Love’s protection. Not to mention the run game. That being said, Jenkins has his mind set on one thing this year: Winning.
“Me personally, every year my expectation is to go win,” he said. “I don’t play football to lose no games. I don’t play football to go to the second round and lose. I always have in my mind the expectation of winning the game.
“Last offseason, I wanted to win. This year, I wanted to win, and next year, I’m going to want to win.”
So he’s not about to temper his thoughts about what the arrow clearly pointing up for this franchise means in his mind.
“We’re coming,” Jenkins said. “We’re coming with a purpose. We want to win it all. Feel like we could have done it this year but next year I’m very optimistic.
“We’ve got the guys in the building. We’ve got everything that we need to get it done. We’ve just got to go do it. We set a good foundation this year. We’ve just got to go win.”
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