Bakhtiari Had ‘Good Practice,’ Not Setback

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur outlined the plan for David Bakhtiari as he continues his comeback from a major knee injury.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari didn’t suffer a setback at Wednesday’s practice.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

“He had a good practice,” coach Matt LaFleur said before Thursday’s practice, one in which Bakhtiari did not participate.

At Wednesday’s practice, this video shot by Cody Krupp of Green Bay television station WLUK showed Bakhtiari walking gingerly between drills.

“Maybe it was that pro glide,” LaFleur said with a smile.

Last week, Bakhtiari practiced on Wednesday and Thursday but not on Friday. The decision to hold him out of the final practice of last week, same as the plan to not practice him on Thursday, was part of the plan, not a sign of a setback.

“When he is fully back, he’s not going to practice three days in a row,” LaFleur said.

Whenever Bakhtiari returns to the lineup, the team will lean on Bakhtiari’s experience to get through his abbreviated workweeks.

“He’s gotten a lot of reps,” LaFleur said. “There’s not many people that can have a schedule like that, but I do believe and we believe as an organization that he’s one of those guys.”

Thursday marks 623 days since Bakhtiari suffered a torn ACL at practice and 249 days since he made his lone appearance in a game last season, an excellent 27-snap performance in the finale at Detroit.

Bakhtiari was inactive for the playoff loss against San Francisco and had a third procedure done on the knee during the offseason. He opened training camp on the PUP list but sounded optimistic about his outlook.

“Concern level: low,” Bakhtiari said after the first practice of training camp. “I really like where I'm at, especially compared to where I was just overall last year.”

He added, “Everyone loves timelines. When I'm ready, I'll be out there. What I can say is I do feel really good. I really like – I feel normal. My knee feels normal, and that's the biggest plus. Now it's just getting that normal feeling again when I play football. So, that's what it is: the load, stress, strength, but we're not really in an ACL issue. That's actually been a long time ago that we put that chapter to bed. It's just there's other issues.”

In the loss to the Vikings, the Packers played with backups at left tackle (Yosh Nijman for Bakhtiari) and right tackle (Royce Newman for Elgton Jenkins). Whoever lines up at left tackle on Sunday will have to deal with Chicago Bears star Robert Quinn, who finished second in the NFL in sacks last year.

“You don’t want to go in there and say, ‘Hey, when you get back out there, you better be back at how you were playing in 2020 before you got hurt,’” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said of Bakhtiari last week. “I want him when he gets out there, just be a great leader, have great energy and do the little things – the finishing of your blocks, good communication, all that stuff.”

“He’ll get to that level. He’ll get back there, I have no doubt about that,” Stenavich added. “Same with Elgton. It’s just a matter of them getting out there, getting in the groove and, 10 weeks from now, hopefully we see that progress.”

Packers-Bears: Did You Know?

Here are some quick-hitting notes ahead of Packers-Bears on Sunday Night Football.

Aaron Rodgers has thrown 61 touchdown passes against Chicago, one more than Brett Favre for most against Chicago. Even while playing the equivalent of 1 3/4 seasons’ worth of games, Rodgers would rank eighth in Bears history in touchdown passes. With a combined total of 121 touchdown passes, Rodgers and Favre would rank third. Rodgers has thrown 16 touchdowns with zero interceptions vs. Chicago during the LaFleur era. Overall, he’s 23-5 vs. Chicago. One of those losses came at Lambeau Field in 2013, when he suffered a broken collarbone on the opening series.

Matt LaFleur is 6-0 against the Bears. Turnovers have been a major theme. His teams are plus-12 in turnovers in those games, with 13 takeaways vs. only one giveaway.

Green Bay was the only team to go undefeated at home last season and has won 13 consecutive games at Lambeau, the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. That, of course, doesn’t include last year’s playoff loss to San Francisco.

Bears defensive end Robert Quinn was second in the NFL with 18.5 sacks last year. He lined up at right end for all 49 snaps last week vs. San Francisco. That means he’ll go up against David Bakhtiari or, perhaps more likely. Yosh Nijman.

Bears safety Eddie Jackson had an interception against San Francisco. Jackson had six interceptions in 2018, including two pick-sixes, to earn All-Pro honors. His interception on Sunday, however, was his first since the 2019 finale.

Pregame Vitals

Time and date: 7:20 p.m. Sunday.

Location: Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

2022 records: Packers, 0-1. Bears, 1-0.

Coaches: Packers – Matt LaFleur (fourth season, 39-11). Bears – Matt Eberflus (first season, 1-0).

History: Packers lead the series 103-95-6, including a 1-1 split in the playoffs. They’ve won all six games under Matt LaFleur. Going deeper, they’ve won 11 of the last 12, 15 of the last 17 and 21 of the last 24. This marks the 17th consecutive season in which these teams have met in primetime.

The line: The Packers are 9.5-point favorites at SI Sportsbook.

How to Watch: Bears at Packers

TV: The game will be aired nationally by NBC, with Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth on the call and Melissa Stark serving as field reporter.

Live stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial).

Radio: Packers Radio Network (Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren), Westwood One (Ryan Radtke and Mike Golic) and SiriusXM 85 or 225 and the SXM App.