GREEN BAY – David Bakhtiari's motivation to play in Week 1 is "extremely high."
But if there's one thing the Packers' All-Pro left tackle has learned through an extensive and excruciating rehab with his knee, it's that what he wants doesn't dictate the process anymore.
"That was tough for me to accept," Bakhtiari said, after his first 2022 practice on Sunday, of not being able to simply heal himself by force of will. "That's how it's been with all the other injuries.
"I tore my hamstring and hip flexor (in 2017), and I was like, 'All right, I'll give it two weeks.' I broke my ribs (in early 2020), like, 'I don't care if you're complaining, we've got something to do. Suck it up.'
"This was something like …"
…beyond any difficulties he could have imagined. Due to two follow-up procedures over the last year and a half after the initial reconstructive surgery, Bakhtiari's rehab and recovery have stopped and re-started twice.
It's been everything from frustrating to unpleasant to exhausting, and at this point there's still a lot he doesn't know – such as when he'll advance from individual drills to 11-on-11, when he'll be cleared for a game, or how exactly he'll perform having played just one half of football in the last 20 months.
Regarding all those questions, he's simply taking it "day by day," which he repeated to reporters several times, knowing full well how cliché it sounds yet how true it is.
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