Packers Activate All-Pro Bakhtiari from PUP
GREEN BAY, Wis. – David Bakhtiari is back.
The Green Bay Packers activated the All-Pro left tackle from the physically unable to perform list after practice on Wednesday, the team announced. That puts him in position to be in the starting lineup on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks – his first game action since tearing the ACL in his left knee at practice on New Year's Eve.
“As far as whether or not he’s available on Sunday, I think that’s something that, as you guys know, we’ll give him the week to kind of figure that out,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “We’re hopeful but, again, we’re going to make sure that the time is right for Dave, for us, for everybody involved.”
Bakhtiari missed the first nine games of the season. Green Bay got clobbered in the opener but rebounded to win the next seven games before losing last week without Aaron Rodgers at Kansas City. Jenkins started the first two games at left tackle, Yosh Nijman played the next three with Jenkins sidelined by an ankle injury, and Jenkins started the last four weeks.
Jenkins and Nijman each gave up two sacks in a total of nine games, according to Pro Football Focus. For comparison, Seattle’s starting left tackle, former Pro Bowler Duane Brown, has allowed six sacks in eight games.
"Whenever we do get Bakh back, it’s obviously going to help our offense," Jenkins said on Wednesday. "I kind of liked it out there. It was fun while it lasted. But whatever to help the team."
While the offense survived without one of the top offensive linemen in the NFL, it could thrive upon his return. This will be his fourth week of practice, which is the approximate equivalent of training camp.
“We’re getting to the point where it’s just day to day and kind of seeing how far we can push him to make sure he’s feeling comfortable,” offensive line coach Adam Stenavich said last week. “Once he gets out there, you don’t want any setbacks.”
With Bakhtiari back in the lineup, the next question is who will join him on the starting five. There are a myriad of options given the versatile crew Stenavich has assembled. Here are two: Jenkins was a Pro Bowler at left guard last season. He could go back to that spot, which would put Jon Runyan on the bench. Or, with rookie center Josh Myers out indefinitely following knee surgery, Jenkins could go back to center – where he played his final two years at Mississippi State – and Lucas Patrick would wind up on the bench. Runyan has played better than Patrick.
Given Royce Newman’s struggles at right guard – among guards, he has allowed a league-worst five sacks – he could be part of any game of musical chars. The Packers have made a sizable investment in terms of draft capital (fourth round) and time and might continue to show patience with the rookie.
Wherever Jenkins winds up, the Packers will have a stud blocker capable of quickly adjusting to whatever his new role.
“I think he could go to any spot, you give him three or four days of practice, he’ll be just fine,” Stenavich said.
After the injury, Bakhtiari said he was a “whirlwind of emotion.” He screamed at the medical staff and cried upon getting the news, but his pity party didn’t last long. He had surgery on Jan. 7 and began plotting his course for the finish line that could be days away with a potential return vs. the Seahawks.
“I’m not going to put any timetable” on it, Bakhtiari said when he last spoke to reporters in June. “For me, I’m going to stack my days, have that turn to weeks, weeks to months, months to years. I have no idea. This is my first time going through this, so I’m just going to attack every day, try to hit every benchmark I can. Once Doc can check me off, I can check myself and I can go out there and not only perform and protect myself but perform at the level that the Packers need me to, I think that’s where you’ll see me return, on that date.”
The Packers might have gone to the Super Bowl had Bakhtiari not been injured during that late-season practice. It’s hard to believe the Packers would have allowed the five sacks it yielded with a shuffled offensive line against Tampa Bay. With him back in the lineup, a prime Super Bowl contender just got much, much stronger. Bakhtiari is a superb pass protector and run blocker, and his presence will allow coach Matt LaFleur to open up the offense.
A five-time All-Pro, Bakhtiari signed a contract extension in November that made him (briefly) the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history.
Clearly, there is prestige with being No. 1 in anything, and that includes No. 1 in contract.
“Yeah, that was something that I’ve been chasing for a while,” Bakhtiari said shortly after signing. “Having the talks with my family, to have that monetary validation for all the work that I’ve put in really meant a lot. That was something that I can hold onto and have that title for the rest of my life. That is something that is special, that I’ve been chasing really ever since I got in the league. I have goals, very lofty, lofty ones. I always wanted to say that I was the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history and today I get to say that.”
