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Two weeks ago, Elgton Jenkins limped through the locker room with a bulky brace on his left knee. He was moving so slowly that a couple reporters asked him if he needed help grabbing something from the floor at his locker.
Having suffered a strained MCL a day earlier at Atlanta, it appeared Jenkins was poised to miss a considerable amount of time.
On Tuesday, Jenkins was back on the practice field. Afterward, he strolled through the locker room without a brace but with a smile.
“I feel like our trainers, they did a good job,” Jenkins said of his quick healing. “I did a good job staying on there, being consistent with the injury and just trying to get better.”
Jenkins went through individual drills during the portion of practice that was open to reporters. He wore a protective brace but said he didn’t feel any pain.
“It feels good. It feels good,” Jenkins said. “Definitely progress from the last two weeks.”
Jenkins said it was too early to predict whether he’d be on the field when the Packers return to action at the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. With a bye week coming up, the Packers could proceed with caution with their two-time Pro Bowler.
“Just being able to move and pain and all that” will determine when Jenkins returns to game action, he said. “You know you’re going to have pain and things like that, but just being able to move, just being able to sustain and play through a whole game.”
Doing so might require Jenkins wearing a brace in upcoming games. That’s something he hasn’t done since his final season at Mississippi State in 2018. Playing with a brace wouldn’t be his preference.
“You just can’t let loose, you feel me?” he said. “It’s restricting you, but it is what it is. I did it before.”
It’s been a struggle for the offense without Jenkins.
At Atlanta, when Jenkins went down early in the second quarter, the Packers blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Against New Orleans, the Packers were shut out through three quarters before they rallied to win.
Against Detroit, the Packers trailed 24-3 midway through the second quarter before they picked up their initial first down. The offense showed some life in the second half but finished the game having allowed five sacks and averaging 2.3 yards per rushing attempt.
Jenkins is just one piece of a banged-up offensive line. His longtime sidekick, left tackle David Bakhtiari, is on injured reserve. Right tackle Zach Tom and right guard Jon Runyan played through knee and ankle injuries, respectively, against the Lions.
With Bakhtiari presumably out for the rest of the season, Jenkins will be playing alongside second-year player Rasheed Walker.
“We’re growing,” Jenkins said. “He’s a young guy, very talented. We’re growing, talking, making sure that the things that I learned, I give that to him. You’ve got to be able to see the game within the game and be able to go out there and play fast.”
With so many snaps alongside each other, Bakhtiari and Jenkins had chemistry and an unspoken bond. Walker and Jenkins, obviously, don’t have that. Their game experience consists of their 18 snaps together at Atlanta.
Thus, it will be up to Jenkins to take on a bigger leadership role.
“You’ve always got to communicate,” Jenkins said. “Like me and Dave, that was one of the things, big on communication pre-snap or when we get on the sideline, so it’s always going to be communication with whoever you’re playing beside. It’s just knowing that you got a young guy like that with talent, but haven’t had so many reps. You’ve just got to make sure that he stays locked in and on his stuff.”
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