David Chao, MD
2 min read • August 05, 2022
Posted in
2021 record: 13-4, lost NFC Divisional | 2022 FanDuel O/U win total: 10.5
After winning 13 games but losing in the NFC playoffs for the third straight season, the Packers lost Davante Adams, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, and top pass-rusher Z’Darius Smith but remain one of the most talented rosters in the NFC.
Unfortunately, they also come into 2022 as the most injury-marred team in the NFC North with an SIC score of 89.6.
Aaron Rodgers’ pinkie toe injury that he suffered last November didn’t limit the quarterback during his MVP season, and he has fully recovered from the ailment.
The biggest concern for Green Bay lies on the offensive line, as both left tackle David Bakhtiari and right tackle Elgton Jenkins started camp on the PUP list while recovering from significant knee injuries.
Bakhtiari played only 27 snaps in 2021, coming in Week 18, while suffering significant swelling and other issues stemming from the December 2020 injury.
He underwent two additional procedures, a cleanup scope in November and another unspecified surgery in April, since the initial surgery 18 months ago.
Jenkins tore his ACL in late-November while replacing Bakhtiari but is unlikely to be available when the season opens.
Tight end Robert Tonyan, also on the PUP list, suffered his own torn ACL in between the two linemen last October but will likely be the last to return to effectiveness.
The Packers’ new-look core of skill players comes in with no major issues, although rookie second-round receiver Christian Watson was placed on the PUP list after undergoing a minor knee surgery after OTAs to address lingering soreness.
The defense sports only one minor health question as cornerback Jaire Alexander returns after missing 13 games in 2021 because of a shoulder sprain.
The 2020 pro-bowl cornerback suffered an AC joint sprain in Week 4 and missed the last 13 games of the regular season before returning for eight snaps in the NFC Divisional round loss to the 49ers.
Alexander will be free-and-clear from the injury, according to the Pro Football Docs, and can be expected to return to form alongside second-year cornerback Eric Stokes in what PFF graded as the No. 4 secondary in the NFL.
The Packers gave bruiser AJ Dillon a greater role in the offense in 2021 working alongside pro-bowler Aaron Jones as each gained over 1,100 total yards.
Jones picked up a mid-season MCL sprain and Dillon suffered a rib injury that knocked him out of the playoff loss but both backs have a clean bill of health, according to the Pro Football Docs.
Bakhtiari is still attempting to comeback from his torn ACL with associated cartilage and meniscus damage on New Year’s Eve 2020 that has now needed three surgeries.
The Sisyphus struggle that Bakhtiari has described as a “nightmare” concerns the Pro Football Docs, who believe that he will be able to return to the field but in a limited form.
Jenkins, meanwhile, has a cleaner recovery as he won’t have to deal with the cartilage and meniscus issues that have plagued Bakhtiari.
It remains unclear, however, if he’ll be available for the season-opener, but he will post approximately three-fourths of his normal production.
Tonyan will have the most-troubled season coming back from a torn ACL among the Packers’ trio, according to the Pro Football Docs, and won’t be the relied-upon weapon for the offense he has been the last year-and-a-half.
The tight end is the longest-tenured Green Bay pass-catcher and he will still need to contribute on some level for a new-look receiving corps headlined by Allen Lazard, Sammy Watkins, and rookie Christian Watson.
Written by David Chao, MD
