When the Green Bay Packers open the season on September 10th against their rival Chicago Bears, outside linebacker Rashan Gary should be suited up and ready to go. At least for the snaps that head coach Matt LaFleur is prepared to give him.

Speaking on Gary's return from injury, LaFleur confirmed that the Packers star will be on a “pitch count”, per Zach Kruse of USA Today's Packers Wire.

“We’re going to be smart with him, knowing this is a marathon. Working with our athletic training staff, just in terms of how much volume we want to give him.” That is the plan to start the season for LaFleur and the Pack.

Already that plan is running into a problem — Gary himself. LaFleur admitted he has to watch the star rusher and “pull him back” from going full throttle on every rep.

Gary is working his way back from a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in Week 9 of last season, ending his campaign in early November. The former Michigan Wolverine was off to a strong start. In the nine games he played, Gary already had six sacks and 32 tackles.

With ample depth at the OLB position, the Packers should be able to ease Gary back in with a limited workload until he is ready to assume a full-time starter's snap count.

The team returns veteran Preston Smith, who has recorded 33.5 sacks for the Packers in four seasons. They also drafted Iowa's Lukas Van Ness in the first round of the 2023 draft.

Along with second-year man Kingsley Enagbare's (three sacks as a rookie) anticipated development, the Pack are covered at the linebacker spot. But they'll welcome whatever contribution Rashan Gary can provide, for however many snaps he is given.