Aaron Jones wasn’t the only injured player on the Green Bay Packers offense to get healthy during the bye week. Right tackle Zach Tom is confident his injured left knee is now close to fully healed coming out of the bye and entering Sunday’s showdown against the Denver Broncos.
“I feel like I’m close to 100 percent,” Tom said Thursday.
The Packers removed Tom from the injury report to start Week 7.
Tom injured his knee in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints but has played — with a brace — during each of the Packers’ last two games. Tom believes he’ll be able to shed the brace and play unhindered against the Broncos.
“The big thing, with the bye week, was resting it. We didn’t have any practices or games,” Tom said. “It allows you heal. It feels much better.”
In the two games since the injury, Tom allowed four pressures against the Detroit Lions and five pressures against the Las Vegas Raiders while battling Aidan Hutchinson and Maxx Crosby. According to PFF, Tom’s two worst pass-blocking grades of the 2023 season came in the two games after the knee injury.
Tom admitted wearing the brace added extra weight to his left leg and made it more difficult to push off the leg in pass protection. With a healthy knee and no equipment weighing him down, it’s possible Tom will look more like the dominant pass-blocker he was to start the 2023 season.
Over the first three games, Tom allowed just two pressures and was one of the top-rated right tackles by PFF’s pass-blocking grade.
On Sunday, Tom will get a matchup against Nik Bonnito and Jonathan Cooper, two emerging young pass-rushers for the Broncos. Bonnito and Cooper play both sides of the line of scrimmage. Can Tom — now healthy coming out of the bye — lock down the right side for Jordan Love?