Eric Jamane Stokes (born March 1, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

and was selected by the Packers in the first round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

Early years

Stokes attended Eastside High School in

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, its population 14,113. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the United Stat ...

, where he played football and ran track. He committed to play college football at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 2017.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Georgia in 2017, Stokes played in 13 of 14 games with three starts in 2018 and finished the season with 20 tackles. As a sophomore in 2019, he started 13 of 14 games, recording 38 tackles and one sack. He returned as a starter in 2020 where he recorded his first career

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

, which he returned for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

, in the opening game of the season. He finished the season with four interceptions and two touchdowns.

Professional career

Stokes was selected by the

in the first round (29th overall) of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract on June 2, 2021, worth $11.93 million, including a $6.03 million signing bonus. Stokes was named the third outside cornerback on the depth chart to start the season. Following continued struggles and injuries by starter Kevin King through the first two weeks of the season, Stokes was named the starter opposite cornerback Jaire Alexander ahead of the Packers' Week 3 game against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. The following week, he recorded his first NFL interception off a pass from

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college footbal ...

during a 27–17 victory over the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

. Starting from Week 5, and with exception of the Packers' Week 9 game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

, Stokes started every game for the Packers. Stokes entered the 2022 season as the starting cornerback for the Packers. His play declined as the Packers defense struggled in his sophomore season. During a Week 9 loss to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

, he exited the game with an ankle injury. Head coach

Matt LaFleur Matthew Patrick LaFleur ( ; born November 3, 1979) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He has served as the quarterback coach of the Washington Redskins, Notre Dame, ...

later informed the press that Stokes would miss the rest of the season with his injury. Stokes began the 2023 season on the reserve/

physically unable to perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

list. He was activated on October 21, 2023, but placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

four days later with a hamstring injury. He was activated on December 16 and returned to the injured reserve list two weeks later.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioGeorgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Eric 1999 births Living people People from Covington, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area American football cornerbacks Georgia Bulldogs football players Green Bay Packers players