Adding injury to insult after the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers 34-31 at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, the Pack lost another key, front line player.
Third year pro Elgton Jenkins went down early in the fourth quarter and had to be helped to the sideline. While the Packers wouldn’t confirm Jenkins suffered an ACL tear, Head Coach Matt LaFleur announced Monday afternoon it’s indeed a season ending injury.
“It’s unfortunate,” LaFleur said, “certainly Elgton’s been a big part of this team, still is a big part of this team but he just won’t be out there with us. It’s an unfortunate part of this game and unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of guys who had to go through this year.”
Jenkins made the Pro Bowl at left guard last year but with All Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari unable to play coming off his own ACL tear, he seamlessly moved to left tackle and manned the blind side. Jenkins missed three games earlier this year with an ankle injury
LaFleur said Monday Bakhtiari still won’t be able to go this Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. He had been practicing for three weeks since being elevated off the Physically Unable to Perform list but last week, did not participate on the field. LaFleur didn’t want to call it a setback, only that Bakhtiari continues to do whatever he can to get back in the lineup. Whether that comes after the badly needed bye this weekend or mid- to late December is still uncertain.
With Jenkins now down and out, Yosh Nijman, who started at left tackle against San Francisco, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, will step back in.
Don’t forget about starting center Josh Myers. The rookie is recovering himself from a knee injury leaving the Packers down three of their five preferred starters with six games left to play. The remaining back up offensive linemen on the roster are veteran Dennis Kelly and second year pro Jake Hanson.
LaFleur was also asked about the continuing struggles of veteran kicker Mason Crosby. After making a 54 yard kick to open the scoring against Minnesota, Crosby hit the left upright on his second attempt from just 32 yards. It’s the 6th miss in his last 14 attempts and throw in two other kicks that got blocked, pushing him to the league lead with 8 failed field goals. When asked directly if he’s considering a change of kickers, LaFleur answered bluntly, “no, absolutely not.”
He said the entire operation needs to improve and they’ll keep working on it.
New long snapper Steven Wirtel’s snap on the missed kick appeared good enough even though he had a wildly errant snap in punt formation during the game.
The Packers released veteran safety Will Redmond late in the day. The 6 year veteran who spent four seasons in Green Bay was one of the top special teams players in 2020 who also worked himself into a part time role as a back up safety. He suffered a toe injury during training camp and had spent all of this season 0n the injured reserve list.
Aaron Rodgers put up is best numbers of the season in Sunday’s loss, throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns and the effort earned him a nomination for the league’s Fed Ex Air Player of the Week.
