There has been a lot of talk the last few days about Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari. He didn’t practice at all leading up to the team’s Week 2 game against the Atlanta Falcons, which was the same approach they took leading into Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.
However, the outcome was vastly different. David Bakhtiari ended up not getting on the field in Week 2 like he did in Week 1. There wasn’t much of an explanation given, as some people speculated that he couldn’t play on turf because of his knee injury.
That is something he addressed this week, which got him very fired up. He has not been shy about sharing his feelings about having to play on turf, as he doesn’t like it. But, having to address rumors about that being why he didn’t play is something that seemed to truly bother the former All-Pro.
“If I wasn’t going to play on turf, I’d probably make more of a ruckus,” said Bakhtiari on Wednesday. “My brother loves drama, and he told me he was going to do it, I’m like go right ahead, I don’t give a (expletive). I don’t care what you do. It’s your social media. No. That (the turf surface) was not the reason at all. If it was going to be, that would definitely be something different. But it’s not. I clearly have an injury that I’ve been dealing with.”
It was eventually revealed that David Bakhtiari was dealing with swelling in his knee caused by playing in Week 1. There wasn’t a specific play or time that he could pinpoint where the injury flared but, that is why he couldn’t be on the field this past Sunday.
“I think there’s just a certain amount of, I don’t know, when my knee hits its limit, it hits its limit, so to speak,” said Bakhtiari.
“I’m going to be honest,” he added, “I’ve broken things in the middle of a game that I don’t even know. Like a lot of guys usually feel terrible like Monday night, Tuesday. So you don’t really know what you did in the game until that point, unless obviously, there’s certain things that don’t feel right in the moment since it is a collision sport. I can’t say I recall much. Maybe a little bit of something, but nothing I can pinpoint to a play or movement or anything like that.”
David Bakhtiari hasn’t practiced with the team since August 30th, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary that he wasn’t on the field all last week in preparation for the Falcons. But the rumors of him sitting because of the playing surface is something that really irked him.
In his opinion, there was enough for the coaches and his teammates to worry about preparing for the Falcons. Having to address bogus rumors about his knee was something he wasn’t happy about doing.
“That’s the part for me that kind of got me fired up. I’m like, that’s bull (expletive),” said Bakhtiari. “I’ll talk to them on Wednesday. But to have all that and then to put Matt in that bind, it’s about the game. So for me, we can walk through stuff after the game.
“How many injured people do you talk to after games? It’s about the football game. It’s about the Packers. I don’t give a (expletive) about me, it’s about them. Let’s focus on them. And then Monday, how many times do y’all catch me? Only when I’m walking in here and have to change. But on Wednesdays, I’m always going to be open and available, and at times when we have a lot of ‘Hey, we have to be smart for the week,’ I’m going to make sure to very limitedly come by, but I still like to respect you guys, and you have your guys’ job, and your time.
“So I don’t appreciate the assumptions and putting people into boxes and making people like Matt, for one, I feel for him because he’s the head coach. He’s got a football game. It’s about the Atlanta Falcons last week and it’s about the Saints this week. Y’all got a question with me, come talk to me. I like to think I’m pretty open. I’ll still shoot you straight. I’ll still tell you guys what it is. So that’s the part that I got a bone to pick, not with one person that I know of, but just the collective, that it was weighing on me about.”
The next question on people’s minds are whether or not the former All-Pro will be in the lineup Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. While he knows it isn’t what people want to hear, David Bakhtiari was unable to give a definitive answer, saying he is day-to-day.
“Doing better,” said Bakhtiari about how he feels this week compared to last,” but we are just going to take it one day at a time. I hate to say it, day to day. I know you guys hate hearing that. I would never rule that out (playing Sunday and then Thursday).
“When I really mean it’s day-to-day, whatever type of control you think you have in a day-to-day, it literally has mine too. This could be the only game I even miss. I don’t know. I’m just making sure that I check my boxes. I’m able and ready. And when it is, great, let’s go out and play.”
While the Packers and David Bakhtiari put together a plan this offseason to try and keep him healthy, his knee doesn’t seem to be cooperating. It will be something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks as flare-ups such as the one he was dealing with last week seem like they will be a regular thing.
Green Bay was hoping scaling back his practice time would limit the unnecessary wear and tear on his body. But, the change couldn’t even get him through Week 1 of the season unscathed as the knee issue is something David Bakhtiari and the team will have to handle as the season moves along.
