Jenkins is tackling a tough position
GREEN BAY – He sits at the same seat each day inside the Green Bay Packers' offensive line room, the one directly in front of All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, ready to learn.
It has been that way since early in the offseason, when Elgton Jenkins first realized he'd be getting a crash course at one of the game's toughest positions. Two years into his career, the Pro Bowler had become comfortable at left guard. “I think I've got that position down to a T,”
Jenkins said. Left tackle was different. Like taking an 18-wheeler and asking it to be a Lamborghini.
So the young guard has been learning from Bakhtiari, the top model among NFL offensive linemen.
“Elgton has everything figured out,” Bakhtiari deadpanned, his typical sarcasm underscoring that, yes, the thirdyear guard has his hands full in camp.
There is much for Jenkins to learn at left tackle, and little time to do it. He will be the Packers' starting left tackle Week 1 in New Orleans if Bakhtiari's surgically repaired ACL doesn't heal in time for him to line up on the blindside. It's a scenario the Packers spent months preparing for and will continue to anticipate throughout camp.
Bakhtiari had no definitive timeline Tuesday on his availability for the opener. With kickoff less than six weeks away, the Packers are preparing as if he won't be available while hoping to be pleasantly surprised. More pressing than Week 1, the biggest question awaiting the Packers at camp's end is whether they'll leave Bakhtiari on the physically unable to perform list.
If he stays on PUP, Bakhtiari won't
occupy one of the 53 spots on the Packers' active roster. He also wouldn't be available to play the first six weeks of the season, at minimum.
“I think we'll address that fork in the road once we get there,” Bakhtiari said.
Bakhtiari said he's working tirelessly to be available as quickly as possible, starting at “the crack of dawn” each day. He also can't overdo his recovery, or else risk further injury. He's in constant communication with the team's medical staff, coaches and front office, monitoring his knee.
“The best rehab,” he said, “is the one that adjusts constantly on the fly. So how much your body can tolerate. You want to basically toe the line without crossing it.”
Strength needs to rebuild in his leg before Bakhtiari can play again, he said. But the deciding factor will be safety. When Bakhtiari can safely play without risk of re-injuring his knee, he will.
It's difficult to predict when that time will be for anyone recovering from a torn ACL. So while he focuses on recovery, Bakhtiari also has focused on doing whatever he can to prepare his replacement. Jenkins dabbled with left tackle last season, but this will be different. Because unlike last year, Jenkins will need to deal with crowd noise – starting inside the Superdome. So he's getting almost all the first-team reps at left tackle in camp, and shadowing Bakhtiari off the field.
“He's always in my ear,” Jenkins said, “just telling me things and helping me out with the small details. He's been in the league going on eight, nine years, so his experience is way above mine. So he helps me out a lot.”
The Packers would be in a terrible predicament if not for Jenkins, their second-round pick from 2019. He is a unicorn on the offensive line. At a position bred in specialization – the difference between left and right tackle, and right and left guard, can be immense – Jenkins is the rare blocker capable of lining up at all five spots.
“(It's) definitely not very common,” Bakhtiari said. “I think there's only a handful of guys that can do that, and I think he's part of that handful.”
The game moves quicker inside, requiring fast reactions from guards. But a guard, flanked on both sides by a tackle and center, can receive much more help if he's beat off the snap. A tackle has much more space to cover, not to mention blocking against more elite athletes on the edge.
The two positions require opposite skill sets. Jenkins, almost supernaturally, has shown both. On Tuesday, in the first padded practice of camp, Jenkins took three straight one-on-one reps against Preston Smith. He beat Smith on all three, knocking the veteran to the ground on his last.
“Elgton has been really impressive so far at left tackle,” said defensive lineman Dean Lowry, who practices against Jenkins each day. “You see him today holding his own and competing against Preston. We know how powerful he is on the inside, so to see him really display his feet and athleticism on the outside, that's been really impressive just watching him do that this week.”
No matter how well Jenkins plays, he won't duplicate Bakhtiari. In the NFL, All-Pro left tackles are among the rarest commodities. Bakhtiari has become the standard at one of the league's most important positions.
Until he returns, the Packers' offensive line will continue to be a patchwork unit. Left tackle isn't the only position in flux. Without Jenkins lining up at left guard, the Packers are replacing a Pro Bowler with either former sixth-round pick Jon Runyan Jr. or fifth-year undrafted veteran Ben Braden. The former Michigan linemen have been alternating first-team reps in camp.
Coach Matt LaFleur announced Tuesday what has become obvious, that rookie Josh Myers will be his team's starting center.
Myers has taken first-team reps since arriving after the draft, where he was selected in the second round. He has impressed his teammates so far, but having a rookie in the middle of an offensive line missing key pieces only adds more challenge.
Bakhtiari's return will solidify things, for Jenkins and the line. He doesn't know when that will be, but nobody misses his presence on the field more than him.
“I really, really like football,” Bakhtiari said. “It's almost like when you take something away, and you don't realize how much you enjoy it. I mean, it is a grind. Being away, I'm like really getting to itching to be back out there. I don't like seeing other people do my job. But, I mean, it's all part of the course I have to play. I kind of have to go down – like I said when it happened – there's this road I have to go down, and it's a long road, and I don't like it. But the only way to get to where I want to be, is I've got to go down that road. So I'm currently down it right now. We'll see when it ends.”