Despite David Bakhtiari playing 70 of 73 snaps at left tackle in Week 4 against the New England Patriots, Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers opted for a full-on rotation with Bakhtiari and Yosh Nijman at left tackle during Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants in London.
Bakhtiari ended up playing 25 of the 63 offensive snaps. Nijman got the other 38.
The circumstances of the trip overseas and the playing surface at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium all played into the team’s decision to rotate Bakhtiari and Nijman every other series.
“I think it was just, we were very mindful, that was a long flight over there. Playing on turf,” LaFleur said Monday. “So, just taking everything into consideration, we thought that was the right thing to do for him to make sure that he stays with us for the duration of the season. He’s still working his way back into this thing, too. Let’s not forget that. It’s pretty early. He’s only played a couple of games. Don’t get me wrong, he’s done a really nice job for us, and we’re really happy he’s back, we want to make sure we’re smart about it, because we’ve said all along, it’s a marathon.”
Bakhtiari only ended up playing 25 snaps because he was on the field for the three-and-out in the second half while Nijman got drives lasting 13 plays in the first half and 14 plays in the second half.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bakhtiari gave up one pressure and graded out poorly in the run game, while also committing a false start penalty before the game’s final play. Nijman didn’t allow a pressure over 25 pass-blocking snaps.
Asked if Bakhtiari wasn’t happy with the rotation in London, LaFleur said he didn’t think so.
“Not to my knowledge,” LaFleur said.
Bakhtiari has now played in 130 total snaps in three games since returning to the field. He played 35 snaps (56 percent) in Week 3 vs. the Buccaneers, 70 snaps (96 percent) in Week 4 vs. the Patriots and now 25 snaps (40 percent) in Week 5 vs. the Giants.
The Packers return home to Green Bay to play at Lambeau Field this week, possibly giving Bakhtiari a better chance of playing a higher percentage of the snaps at left tackle. The team clearly wants to be cautious with his playing time on artificial surfaces, which makes sense given the history of his knee and the additional stress of playing on non-grass playing fields. The Packers play only two more games on artificial fields over the rest of the 2022 season.
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