Terrible news has arrived for the Green Bay Packers. Locked in a bare-knuckled brawl against the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, a fight they wound up losing to a game-winning field goal, the Packers also lost yet another starting left tackle for the season. Elgton Jenkins, starting in place of five-time All-Pro tackle David Bakhtiari, went down in the fourth quarter in what looked to be a non-contact injury. He was carted into the locker room and the Packers feared the worst-case scenario, but more tests were scheduled to get a detailed look at what Jenkins was up against.
On Monday, tests reportedly confirmed Jenkins suffered a torn ACL, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, ending his season and, due to the nature and timing of the injury, putting question marks around his availability for training camp and the season opener in 2022.
Hey @ProFootballDoc, any insight on this Elgton Jenkins injury? pic.twitter.com/sNogVr8P1G
— packers clips (@packers_clips) November 21, 2021
Bakhtiari is still attempting to return from a torn ACL he suffered in 2020, which turned eyes to Jenkins as the obvious replacement before now. The latter is a former second-round pick of the Packers in 2019 who earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2020 after being named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team in his first year as a pro. Being without Bakhtiari is painful enough of a blow for the Packers, but the void was filled by a well-playing Jenkins, whom they won't see again until 2022.
Barring an addition via free agency, that moves the Packers to third-string tackle Yosuah Nijman as the primary player to take reps at the position, with a possible look at Dennis Kelly as well. It's a huge blow to the Packers offense, and one that combines with what's described as a toe injury on Aaron Rodgers that certainly sounds more than a few alarms in Green Bay.
Because if Rodgers is hobbled while the Packers struggle to protect his blindside, things could get ugly.
