Green Bay Packers: David Bakhtiari Misses 3rd Straight Practice
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers activated David Bakhtiari off the PUP list last Wednesday and on to the 53-man roster. However, that move was more so a formality than an indication that Bakhtiari was ready to return.
Bakhtiari had returned to practice on October 20th — on an individual basis — which opened the three-week window for the Packers to activate him off PUP. Had Green Bay not activated him last Wednesday, Bakhtiari would have then been placed on season-ending IR. So again, this was a formality.
Bakhtiari would then practice in a limited fashion last Thursday before being held out of Friday’s practice. Matt LaFleur made clear earlier in the week that just because Bakhtiari was back at practice and now on the roster, that did not mean that he was going to play right away—there are still hurdles to overcome, most notably that Bakhtiari has to show that he can be a full participant in multiple practices in a row.
David Bakhtiari missed Green Bay Packers practice both Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Unfortunately, we still are not at that point. Although Wednesday’s practice was just a walk-through, Bakhtiari would sit out, and he did the same once again on Thursday—marking the third straight practice that he has missed.
"“It’s day to day, it’s part of the process, he’s coming off a major injury. We’re trying to put him in the best possible position for when he does return, so that’s he good to go,” LaFleur said Thursday via Packers Wire."
When asked if Bakhtiari will eventually return this season, LaFleur would reply, “I sure hope he’s able to go at some point.”
We don’t know if there has been any sort of setback with Bakhtiari’s knee injury but we do know that when it comes to the Green Bay Packers organization, they are very conservative when it comes to how they handle injuries.
While we all want Bakhtiari back as soon as possible, the goal for Green Bay is to ultimately have him available for the playoffs and to make sure that the long-term health of his knee is not in jeopardy. In the grand scheme of it all, Bakhtiari isn’t even 11 months removed from the ACL injury.
"“Him being out there from what I’ve seen of him in practice so far, there’s flashes where he looks great,” said OL coach Adam Stenavich via Sports Illustrated. “It’s just going to be a matter of can he sustain that for a game? That’s going to be the hardest thing because he didn’t have camp, he didn’t have anything built up. Practices are limited right now. So, that’s going to be his biggest challenge is getting to a place where he can sustain that performance for an entire game. That’s part of what we evaluate right now and that’s probably going to be probably the biggest question.”"
With Bakhtiari having missed both practices this week, I can’t imagine we see him on Sunday in Minnesota. In fact, if I were to guess, I don’t think we will see him until after the bye when Green Bay takes on Chicago in Week 14—and that’s at the earliest.
For the most part, the Green Bay offensive line has held their own despite several injuries, movement, and being without their All-Pro left tackle. When Bakhtiari does return, LaFleur and Co. will have some decisions to make when it comes to how they want to construct the offensive line—either Lucas Patrick, Jon Runyan, or Royce Newman is going to be left out.
Prior to suffering the knee injury, Bakhtiari had put together a fantastic 2020 season with just one sack given up and nine pressures allowed in 446 pass-blocking snaps, according to PFF ($$).
"“He’s doing everything in his power to get back and soon as possible,” LaFleur said via Packers Wire."