Green Bay — The Green Bay Packers had to finish Sunday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys without their starting defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. He sustained a knee injury in the middle of the second quarter and did not return. Initially, the medical staff believed he might be able to come back, but the team later ruled him out as the knee lacked sufficient stability.

With Week 5 serving as the bye, the Packers will have additional time to assess the extent of the damage. However, until imaging and a concrete treatment plan are finalized, it remains uncertain whether Wyatt will miss time beyond the bye.

The on-field impact was immediate. Wyatt is central to generating B-gap interior pressure and anchoring the run defense. In his absence, Green Bay expanded snaps for undrafted rookie Nazir Stackhouse and rotated T.J. Slaton, Karl Brooks, and Colby Wooden. While Stackhouse flashed on a few stops, issues with holding up against double teams, pad level, and execution in goal-line/short-yardage situations showed there’s still work to be done.

Head coach Matt LaFleur was candid after the game:
“We could clearly see Nazir Stackhouse struggled to replace Devonte Wyatt; his impact is beyond dispute. Initially, we thought he could return soon, but the subsequent updates don’t look very promising.”

In the short term, the staff is expected to reduce light boxes on early downs, increase run-blitz frequency to protect the interior, and lean more on T-E/E-T stunts and twists to manufacture interior pressure without Wyatt. From a personnel standpoint, the priority is a package-based division of labor (run downs vs. pass downs); adding a plug-and-play veteran DT becomes likelier only if medical evaluations point to a longer absence.

Looking ahead, the Packers have more than a week to recalibrate before hosting the Cincinnati Bengals at Lambeau Field at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 12. While the Bengals skew toward spread concepts and quick game, they have enough duo/inside-zone to stress a thin interior. If Wyatt remains out, the burden shifts to Slaton–Brooks–Wooden and the linebacker group’s discipline on mesh/RPO reads—paired with scheme-driven interior pressure—to keep the middle of the defense intact.