Packers Elgton Jenkins To Miss Start of Training Camp With Non-Football Injury

Jenkins was placed on the non-football injury list due to an unknown back injury. Details of how or when the injury occurred were not disclosed, but general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur expressed their excitement for the center to get back to work once he's healthy.

“Hopefully, he’ll be out there soon. All these guys need as many reps as they can get. Obviously, [Jenkins] probably less than most, but getting them out there will be important," Gutekunst said. "[He's] always done right by us. I think we’ve always done right by him. And we’re excited to be able to do that.

"We’re excited to kind of see him move to this new position because we really do think he has an opportunity to really help our football team. Certainly, he played center in college and he was excellent at it. Our football team needs as many reps with him out there as possible, but we’ve got to get to this back thing first."

Alongside working through his back injury, both parties need to come to a financial agreement as a result of the position change. Green Bay needs Jenkins back to solidify its offensive line, find stability, and get him reps at center ahead of the 2025 regular season.

“I think a lot of times [center] can often be overlook[ed] in regards to all the nuances that position entails. You are the guy making all the calls . . . The only other guy other than the quarterback that touches the ball on every play and there's nothing more important than that," LaFleur said. "So just the ability for really the entire offense to get off on the snap count, a lot of that rests on the shoulder of the center.”