The Green Bay Packers are gearing up for the 2017 football season with their training camp getting underway on Thursday. One player who is not yet ready to get back onto the field, however, is left tackle David Bakhtiari.
The “green bay packers players” are set to practice for the first time since David Bakhtiari’s ACL tear. The Packers LT is expected to play in Week 1 of the NFL season.
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – On Monday, the Green Bay Packers received some positive injury news, particularly with All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari.
Aaron Rodgers’ blind side defender is slated to practice this week for the first time since tearing his left ACL during a drill on New Year’s Eve. Bakhtiari is still on the physically unable to perform list, but it gives him a three-week window to practice without having to play.
It’s doubtful he’ll play this Sunday against Washington, and with a short week after that leading up to the Thursday game against Arizona, it’s also improbable. But it might pave the way for a comeback in the Kansas City game on Nov. 7, a little more than a year after his injury. The Packers usually let an ACL-rehab player to play at that point.
“You don’t want to simply throw someone out there when you’re coming off a very big injury,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Monday. “We want to make sure that, first and foremost, his knee is in good physical condition and that he is not in danger of causing more harm to it. Also, I believe that playing football builds confidence, whether in practice or on the field, so there is a ramp-up time.”
Bakhtiari is allowed to practice for the first time this week, so it’s a positive indicator that he’ll get straight to work, most likely starting with Wednesday’s session.
Bakhtiari might make his debut before rookie center Josh Myers recovers from a knee injury suffered in Sunday’s victory against Chicago. Myers exited after four plays, and although LaFleur said Monday that the injury isn’t season-ending, Myers is expected to miss many games. According to LaFleur, his Sunday substitute, Lucas Patrick, graded out as the Packers’ best offensive lineman against the Bears.
Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who has been out with a hamstring issue, might return to the offense this week. After missing the required three games, he is eligible to return off injured reserve. LaFleur wouldn’t commit to a return this week after seeing the Packers’ No. 2 receiver jogging hard during pregame warmups two weeks ago.
Outside linebacker Preston Smith, who left the game after eight plays due to an oblique injury, is listed as day-to-day on defense, but the Packers are wary of players with soft-tissue ailments. Then there are the two starting cornerbacks from the first game, Jaire Alexander and Kevin King, who both have shoulder problems.
Although King did not play against the Bears, LaFleur believes that putting him on injured reserve (and missing three games) isn’t required. He couldn’t exclude out season-ending surgery for Alexander, who is now on injured reserve and attempting to recover and return without surgery.
“I can’t rule anything out completely,” LaFleur added, “but we feel like it’s moving along beautifully.” “It’s something we’re constantly re-scanning, if you will, to make sure we get the appropriate views from everyone to assist Jaire out and put him in the best possible situation.”
After Sunday’s home game against Washington, the Packers (5-1) will play Arizona and Kansas City on the road, which may be their most challenging two-game stretch of the season.
The Packers were largely injury-free in LaFleur’s first two seasons, but that has changed in his third season.
Rodgers said on Sunday, “We have to get well.” “Dave, for example, is expected to return this week to practice. Obviously, with Jaire’s injury, Preston’s injury, and Kevin King’s injury, we’re a bit beat up. So it’s good to be 5-1 despite being banged up and winning five straight games, but we need to get healthy as we head into a crucial stretch.”
Related Tags
- packers defense
- greenbay packers game
- bakhtiari
