Eric Stokes was back on the field defensively for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and in his first start in over 13 months, he saw his fair share of Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans.
“It was a great feeling being back out there,” said Stokes at his locker on Monday. “I hadn’t played ball in over 13 months. It was a great feeling just being back out there. Being with the guys. Very, very much emotional. But I had to challenge that all in.”
Stokes would end up playing 76 percent of the Packers defensive snaps with Corey Ballentine filling in for him when he needed a breather. When it was all said and done, Stokes allowed four receptions on four targets at 16.8 yards per catch with a touchdown.
Stokes would allow one reception to Chris Godwin for 25 yards, according to PFF, and two to Evans for 37 and the touchdown. He held Trey Palmer to five yards on his lone catch.
“It’s still hard to tell because there’s still a lot of things I’ve got to get used to,” said Stokes about where he is now compared to before the injury. “There’s a lot of little things, like you’ve got to tip your hat to the things they did.
“Of course, going against Mike Evans, in my eyes, that’s a Hall of Famer. 10 straight consecutive years of over 1,000 yards. You’ve got to give kudos to that man. So just going back against him. Going out there and being thrown into the fire. You’ve got to love it. I love everything about that.”
With Stokes having been a full participant in practice for two weeks and the deadline to add him back to the 53-man roster quickly approaching, the fact that Stokes was active against the Bucs didn’t come as a surprise. However, what we didn’t know was how much playing time he was going to see, specifically on defense.
During his previous return in Week 7 against Denver, Stokes had only seen four special teams snaps and none on defense before suffering the hamstring injury that landed him back on IR. But in Week 15, with Jaire Alexander inactive and Rasul Douglas in Buffalo, the makeup of the cornerback room for the Packers looked quite different than it did two months ago.
Stokes mentioned that he knew mid-week leading up to the Bucs’ game that he would be starting.
“I felt them coming out of the tunnel,” said Stokes about the emotion of being back on the field. “Especially after the first tackle I had, alright, I’m back. Taking a look back at it afterwards you get the true emotion. I’m actually back, back. I actually feel good. It was a great feeling.”
The Green Bay pass defense as a whole was shredded by Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. Mayfield completed 22-of-28 passes for 381 yards with four touchdowns. The Packers utilized a heavy-dose of zone and it was like the Bucs knew exactly what was coming, able to find all the soft spots leading to a bevy of explosive plays. According to PFF, of Mayfield’s 28 passes, only two were contested.
Despite not having played for 13-plus months, there was no easing in for Stokes. He got the start, had almost a full workload, and had to defend one of the best receivers in football.
“It was a lot of little things to it,” said Stokes about the Packers issues on defense. “We can’t play the blame game. That’s just exactly what we ended the meeting on. We’ve got to find solutions. There’s no reason to play the blame game. The blame game ain’t going to get calls for nothing. We’ve got to find solutions because it’s on to Charlotte next week. So we’ve got to look in the mirror. We can do everything, but just line up and play ball.”
