Packers offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins is believed to have suffered an ACL tear (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Packers won’t know for sure until he undergoes additional testing, but the early indication is that this’ll be a season-ending injury.
Jenkins, 26 in December, suffered the injury in the third quarter while getting ready to stuff Harrison Smith‘s blitz attempt. There didn’t seem to be contact on the play, but Smith was left writhing in pain and clutching his left knee. After that, Smith had to be carted off and was replaced by backup Yosh Nijman at left tackle. The Packers went on to lose 34-31 to the Vikings, dropping them to 8-3 on the year.
Jenkins, a Pro Bowl left guard, has been filling in at left tackle for All-Pro David Bakhtiari. If Jenkins is done for the year, Green Bay will be even thinner up front. Meanwhile, there’s no word on when Bakhtiari will bounce back from his own ACL recovery.
“I’m not going to get into it, guys,” head coach Matt LaFleur said last week when asked about Bakhtiari (via The State Journal). “You can ask a million different ways. I’m just going to tell you the same thing over and over. It’s day to day. It’s part of the process. He’s coming off a major injury. He’s doing everything in his power to get back as quickly as possible, and that’s just where we are right now.”
The Packers should know more about Jenkins’ condition by Monday morning. But, barring any unexpected good news, they’ll have to place the 6-5, 311-pound lineman on season-ending IR.
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