BREAKING: Packers’ Kenny Clark Replacement Sounds off on ‘Disrespect’
Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
Dodgers Predicted to Sign Top MLB Free Agent After 2025 Season
Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman
The Los Angeles Dodgers have notoriously been one of the top spenders in MLB for several years now. They showed that at the beginning of 2025, they signed many top free agents to improve their roster.
However, that has not led them to become the juggernaut team many analysts and executives thought they would be. Los Angeles is 79-64 and will likely not reach the 90-win mark with just 20 games left this regular season.
Whatever the Dodgers do in the postseason, one MLB Insider believes they will sign the top free agent after 2025.
Dodgers Predicted to Sign Kyle Tucker
The Chicago Cubs’ slugger is having a rough last two months of the season, but is still considered the top free agent.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale believes it will be to the Los Angeles Dodgers:
“Rival executives still believe he’ll be the highest-paid player in free agency,” Bob Nightengale reported Monday. “Their prediction where he’ll land? The Dodgers, who badly could use outfield help.”
The Dodgers could use outfield help, but signing Tucker to say, $400 million would put them far over the luxury tax. But it would address a much-needed positional issue. Los Angeles signed Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million deal before the season, and he has looked like a massive bust the entire season.
Conforto still isn’t above the .200 average mark, despite playing in 124 games. His OPS is 77, well below league average. The Dodgers also traded for left fielder Alex Call back in July, and he hasn’t had much production either. Signing Kyle Tucker in free agency is right up the Dodgers’ wheelhouse.
Although Tucker has struggled for the past few months, he’s still had a solid season. Kyle Tucker still has 22 home runs and an OPS+ of 140.
Kyle Tucker Has So Many Accolades As a Player
Bleacher Report recently came out with a prediction piece about Kyle Tucker’s free agency, and it showed how tenured he is as a player:
“After all, Tucker’s resume includes a World Series title, four All-Star selections, a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove. He led the league in RBI in 2023 when he was with the Houston Astros and has hit more than 20 home runs in each of the last five seasons. While he hasn’t been himself since the All-Star break with a .242 batting average, five home runs and 17 RBI, some of that can be explained by injury concerns. And he still has solid overall numbers this season with a .270/.381/.472 slash line, 22 home runs and 73 RBI. Tucker is also just 28 years old, which is another reason he will surely command a significant deal this offseason.”
The next question is how much the Dodgers would pay him, and that will be up to Tucker’s agent.
Fans of other MLB teams would not be happy with the Dodgers making a big-money signing like this, but it would put a lot of pressure on the Cubs to attempt to dish out a higher AAV contract. Tucker’s free agency will be one of the highest-anticipated events this offseason.
