Green Bay Packers: David Bakhtiari at Practice but when will he Play?

Still recovering from an ACL injury that occurred late last season, David Bakhtiari spent the first six weeks of the Green Bay Packers 2021 season on the PUP list.

The good news, however, is that his stay does not have to be extended, and he is back at practice this week. The Green Bay Packers now have a three-week window to activate him.

So with that, the big question now becomes, when will we see Bakhtiari back on the field for a game?

The Packers are yet to officially rule out Bakhtiari from playing this Sunday against Washington, with Matt LaFleur saying that they will take it “day-by-day” and that “time will tell whether or not we put him in a position to suit up for us.”

However, this does seem very unlikely. Bakhtiari hasn’t practiced in nearly 10 months, and there is going to be a ramp-up period required.

On top of that, this is also a Green Bay Packers organization that is very conservative when it comes to dealing with injuries—more often than not, you can assume that they are going to take the slow and steady approach.

"“We want to make sure that, No. 1, physically his knee is in great shape and he’s not at further risk of doing more damage to it,” LaFleur said Monday via Packers Wire. And also I think there’s a confidence factor that you develop by playing football, whether that’s in practice, so there is a ramp-up period.”"

So if Bakhtiari isn’t going to play Sunday, could we see him for Week 8 in Arizona? I will venture to say that the odds are greater but still unlikely.

Under normal circumstances in which the Packers were playing the Cardinals on the following Sunday, I’d feel a bit differently. But this is a Thursday Night game on a short week, so I believe Green Bay sticks with the conservative approach, keeping Bakhtiari out.

Ultimately we will have to wait and see, but my prediction is that we see Bakhtiari back for the Green Bay Packers Week 9 matchup in Kansas City. The Chiefs’ defense currently ranks 15th in pressure rate, and they are allowing 5.2 yards per carry, which ranks 30th.

Upon Bakhtiari’s return, the Green Bay Packers will have some difficult decisions to make when it comes to their offensive line configuration.

Throughout the first six games, several players have filled in admirably off the bench. The Green Bay offensive line unit ranks fifth in ESPN’s pass-block win rate and ninth in run-blocking.

If Josh Myers is still out at that time, the Packers will have to decide if they want Elgton Jenkins to play center or left guard. If he goes back to left guard, the team will then have to decide if they want their right guard to be Royce Newman or Jon Runyan.

Again, this is just my best guess, and in the end, it’s going to come down to how Bakhtiari practices and how he feels after each practice as well. But I don’t believe that he will be back at left tackle for at least one game and possibly two.