Green Bay Packers star offensive lineman David Bakhtiari tore his ACL during a late December practice, but he’s already doing individual work in front of the media at voluntary OTAs just five months later.
The All-Pro left tackle was seen on Wednesday doing rehab off to the side during team drills and looked damn good for a guy coming off of a significant knee injury. Obviously, Green Bay won’t Bakhtiari back before he’s ready, however, he does appear to be making great progress.
Head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Wednesday that Bakhtiari is ahead of schedule in his recovery.
“He’s really working hard,” LaFleur said. “I think he came back, and he’s in excellent shape. We’re just going to take it one day at a time,” LaFleur said Wednesday. “I think he’s a little bit ahead of schedule, but then again, there’s a long way to the start of the season. We’ll see where he’s at when it comes to that time.”
The Packers will need Bakhtiari sooner rather than later if they hope to have the number one scoring offense for the second year in a row. During Aaron Rodgers MVP run in 2020, he was sacked 20 times, which was his lowest total since 2017. A season in which he played in just seven games due to a broken collarbone. For a complete season, 20 sacks taken is the lowest total during Rodgers’ 13 years as the starting quarterback.
Bakhtiari plays a huge role in protecting Rodgers’ blindside-- a job he has held since 2013. Over the course of his career, he’s emerged into one of the best left tackles in the NFL. Right before his injury, Bakhtiari signed a four-year, $105.5 million contract extension making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history at the time.
Last year, Bakhtiari missed four games with a back injury but later returned to an elite level. He is a three-time Pro Bowler and also earned his second first-team All-Pro selection in 2020. Unfortunately, right before the Packers were about to start their postseason run, he tore his ACL during a non-contact drill in practice.
Green Bay won their divisional-round matchup against the Los Angeles Rams but lost the NFC Championship to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rodgers faced a lot of pressure and was sacked five times without his franchise left tackle.
Once Bakhtiari is healed, he will return to his rightful spot at left tackle. Although you can’t count him out just yet, it would be a miracle for him to be ready for week one. If Bakhtiari were to play in week one, he would have healed in eight months for an injury that sometimes can take up to 12 months to recover from.



Brandon Carwile is a Packers writer who also enjoys watching and breaking down film.

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