The Green Bay Packers Will Be Without David Bakhtiari And Elgton Jenkins Against Vikings

Winning in Minnesota has always been a monumental challenge for the Green Bay Packers.

Now, that task just became a lot tougher.

According to NFL.com, left tackle David Bakhtiari (knee) and guard/tackle Elgton Jenkins (pectoral/knee) are both expected to be sidelined Sunday when the Packers travel to Minnesota. Wide receiver Allen Lazard (ankle) is also expected to miss the game.

Green Bay’s offensive line now goes from a position of strength to one of great uncertainty with Bakhtiari and Jenkins each sidelined. Both are former Pro Bowl players that, when healthy, rank among the top linemen in the game.

Now, Green Bay’s starting offensive line is likely to be (from left) Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Josh Myers, Jake Hanson and Royce Newman.

“(I’m) expecting those young guys to be ready to go if their number gets called,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said last week.

Jenkins is just 9 ½ months removed from tearing his ACL. So it’s not a great surprise he won’t play in the season-opener.

Bakhtiari’s recovery from a torn ACL on Dec. 31, 2020, remains one of the more bizarre stories in recent memory, though.

Bakhtiari — who also suffered damage to his meniscus — dealt with fluid build-up last season and eventually needed a second surgery to repair cartilage damage.

Bakhtiari returned for the regular season finale in 2021 against Detroit and played 27 largely impressive snaps. After that game, though, Bakhtiari had more fluid build-up and was unable to play in Green Bay’s divisional playoff loss to San Francisco.

Bakhtiari underwent a third knee procedure this offseason, but returned from the Physically Unable to Perform list on Aug. 21. Last week, Bakhtiari participated in team drills on Wednesday and Thursday, but did not practice Friday.

In 2020 — Bakhtiari’s last healthy season — Pro Football Focus gave him a pass blocking grade of 91.6, which was No. 1 among offensive tackles. PFFPFF
also gave Bakhtiari a run blocking grade of 86.7, which was 17 points higher than any of his first seven seasons.

“Everyone loves timelines,” Bakhtiari, who turns 31 later this month, said earlier in training camp. “When I’m ready, I’ll be out there, and 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 that we’re navigating around, things I’m learning and it’s been … it’s been my nightmare, so it’s something that I have to live with.”

Jenkins, 26, ranks among the most versatile linemen in Packer history. In fact in 2020, Jenkins became the first Green Bay offensive lineman to start a game at guard, center and tackle in the same season since the 1970 merger.

Jenkins took over for Bakhtiari at left tackle last season, and excelled before his own injury. In eight starts, Jenkins allowed just 1 ½ “bad” runs and 13 pressures (a combination of sacks, knockdowns and hurries).

Without Bakhtiari and Jenkins, Nijman will be the likely starter at left tackle and Newman figures to start at right tackle.

Last season, the massive Nijman (6-7, 320) made eight starts at left tackle when Jenkins went down and more than held his own. According to PFF, Nijman ranked 31^st in pass blocking efficiency out of the 58 offensive tackles to play at least his 590 snaps last season.

“You’ve got to give him a lot of credit because he has busted his tail to get where he’s at right now,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said of the undrafted Nijman. “He’s really worked his way into a guy who’s going to have a long career.”

Newman started 16 games at right guard last year and led Green Bay’s offensive lineman with 1,084 snaps. Newman did give up 25 pressures, though, which tied for most on the team, and also allowed 11 “bad” runs. And when Green Bay’s health improved in the postseason, the Packers started Lucas Patrick over Newman.

Hanson, meanwhile, will likely make his first career start.

Hanson played just six offensive snaps a year ago, but worked with the No. 1 offense much of training camp.

“Jake has had one of the best camps of anyone on our offense, just from taking that next step,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said.

Green Bay’s makeshift offensive line will face an immense task in trying to contain Minnesota outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter.

Smith had 26.0 sacks while playing for Green Bay during the 2019-20 seasons. He played in just two games last season due to a back injury, though, and was released due to salary cap reasons this past offseason.

Smith recently told the website Golongtd.com he was “treated bad” in Green Bay last season.

“That’s why I’m here now,” Smith said of being a Viking. “So, I can play them twice a year.”

Hunter had 54.5 sacks his first five years in the league. But he spent the 2020 season on injured reserve with a neck injury and finished last year on I.R. with a torn pectoral muscle.

“We feel good about our guys,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said last week. “Our guys are experienced and you know, we’re going to put the best five out there and try to put them in the best position possible, however that may be.

“And we’re going up against a really good defensive line. They’ve got a couple great pass rushers, so, and then having the inability to probably hear on most of the snap counts, it’ll be a great test for our guys to see where we’re at.”

That test will be even harder without Bakhtiari and Jenkins.