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Packers’ ACL Club Meets on Sideline at OTAs

The road back from an ACL is challenging and the destination is uncertain, no matter how many players successfully return from what used to be a career-threatening injury.
Bill Huber|
Packers’ ACL Club Meets on Sideline at OTAs
Packers’ ACL Club Meets on Sideline at OTAs

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last season, according to NFL data, a total of 71 players suffered torn ACLs between preseason games, regular-season games and practices. That’s a little more than two per team.

The Packers had three in a span of four games.

Running back Kylin Hill and tight end Robert Tonyan were injured during the Week 8 game at the Arizona Cardinals. A few weeks later, offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins went down in the Week 11 game at Minnesota.

They’ve been going through on-the-field rehab workouts during the first two weeks of organized team activities.

“Me (and) Elgton, we talk every day,” Hill said on Tuesday. “We’re ready to come back and make our big splash on the field together. I feel like it’s going to be very exciting and very fun.”

The road back from an ACL is challenging and the destination is uncertain, no matter how many players successfully return from what used to be a career-threatening injury. Nobody knows that more than former All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari. In 2020, Bakhtiari was one of only four players league-wide to suffer a torn ACL on the practice field. The injury, sustained on New Year’s Eve, might have kept the Packers out of the Super Bowl.

At this time last year, judging by what he was doing during his practice-field workouts, it appeared Bakhtiari was on the fast track to getting back in the lineup. Instead, his comeback stalled. A follow-up procedure helped get him back on the field for the Week 18 game at Detroit, but he was unavailable a couple weeks later for the playoff loss to San Francisco.

Bakhtiari hasn’t practiced during OTAs, and he won’t be on the field for next week’s minicamp. The target, coach Matt LaFleur said last week, was training camp. Given his incredible importance to the team as an elite player at a vital position and his massive salary, the Packers’ cautious approach is understandable.

“Our plan all along was to kind of hold him from this time of year and make sure he’s continuing to get stronger and ready to go hopefully for training camp,” LaFleur said.

The word “hopefully” was a bit foreboding, though perhaps it was used on account of what happened last year, when all assumptions and hopes fell by the wayside.

“We just thought that this is a guy that’s played a lot of ball and it’s best to hold him from this portion of it,” LaFleur said.

While Bakhtiari has done his rehab work behind the closed doors of the Don Hutson Center this year, Hill, Tonyan and Jenkins have been doing some strength and agility work to strengthen the repairs.

Bakhtiari’s words of wisdom for their arduous comebacks?

“It’s all about rehab and how you attack it,” Hill said. “I feel like the ACL is just a mental thing. You’ve got to bounce back and have trust in yourself and your skills.”

Hill was a seventh-round pick last year who won a roster spot following a strong training camp. Stuck behind Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon on the depth chart, snaps on offense were fleeting. His main opportunities came on kickoff returns; that’s what he was doing when he was injured against the Cardinals.

“It was my first big injury, so it was a new adjustment for me,” he said. “But now I’m feeling like myself again. I’m very confident I can cut. I’ve been jogging and am able to do everything. It’s all about getting my confidence back.”

He’s got time. The start of training camp is about two months away. Jones and Dillon are back atop the depth chart, so the Packers can be patient with a talented young player.

According to Hill, Jenkins and Tonyan are the leaders of the competition to be the first player back on the field. Hill said he works quietly in the background and laughs at their banter. Having spent countless working on his knowledge of the playbook along with the health of his knee, he will be ready once he is cleared by the training staff.

“I’m just a real solo guy,” Hill said. “I keep to myself a lot. That’s just how I was raised. All of us, we’re very happy to be together in those rehab sessions and we’re ready to hit the field.”

Aaron Rodgers at The Match

Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady beat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen at The Match on Wednesday in Las Vegas. Rodgers sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole for the win.

Aaron Rodgers arrives for The Match at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas.

The 44-year-old Brady, the winner of seven Super Bowl championships, and the 38-year-old Rodgers, owner of four MVPs, have combined to win eight NFL championships and seven MVPs. Mahomes and Allen, both of whom are 26, are two of the NFL’s young stars. Mahomes has one Super Bowl win and one MVP on his resume.

The participants enjoy some pre-match banter. Turner Sports' Ernie Johnson (far left) is joined by Rodgers, Brady, Mahomes and Allen.

During the interview session, Allen showed Brady the golf ball he was using. It featured a shirtless Brady from the 2000 Scouting Combine.

Later, Brady showed Allen a golf ball featuring the Lombardi Trophy, which Brady has won seven times during his legendary career.

The golfers are ready to rumble for the 12-hole showdown. Thankfully, J.J. Watt is there to keep them separated.

The players gather on the first tee. At least Brady got to the tee.

“Just looking at the pin location, guys,” Brady said. “Nah, I’m just kidding. I’m so frickin’ lost around here I don’t know where I’m going.”

Rodgers and Brady join Wisconsin native J.J. Watt for an interview session.

Watt had one of the funnier lines of the evening.

Rodgers watches his tee shot at The Match. Thanks in large part to strong play by Rodgers, which included a birdie on No. 1, he and Brady won the first two holes.

Perhaps that is true. A Golf.com analyst said Rodgers' swing has improved.

Rodgers sank the winning birdie putt to give the Old Quarterbacks 1-up victory over Mahomes and Allen.

Last year, Rodgers and PGA Tour pro Bryson DeChambeau beat Brady and Phil Mickelson.

Here are more photos, this time from Getty Images.

And here are video highlights from the PGA Tour.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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