Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari exited the game on Sunday at Ford Field due to fatigue, according to coach Matt LaFleur.
Bakhtiari was making his season debut after missing the first 16 games of the season while recovering from last season’s ACL injury and surgery.
“I think he felt fatigued more than anything else. I wouldn’t say it’s anything we’re truly concerned about,” LaFleur said Sunday. “But I think with anybody that is coming back, you have to see how you respond to this. What does tomorrow look like, what does it feel like? We’ll continue to work and monitor and hopefully I can get you guys an update later.”
Bakhtiari was on the field for roughly 25 snaps in the first half. He came out of the contest midway through the third series and was replaced by Yosh Nijman.
Sunday was Bakhtiari’s first time on the football field since December of 2020. He was injured on Dec. 3 and missed the Packers’ final regular-season game and both playoff games. He dealt with setbacks during the recovery process and wasn’t able to return until Sunday’s season finale.
LaFleur said the Packers will have to see how Bakhtiari and his knee respond tomorrow.
“It was great to get him back out there today. We’ll take a look at the tape and have a good plan for him moving forward,” LaFleur said. “Hopefully he can build off of this. Like I told him and Josh (Myers), there’s nothing like football shape. It was good for them to be back out there today, and hopefully we can build off that.”
Aaron Rodgers said the team was expecting Bakhtiari to play 20-25 snaps, and a big part of his wanting to play Sunday was getting snaps with Bakhtiari back on the field.
The next step will be more conditioning so that he can get a full game in during the postseason.
LaFleur said the Packers “expect” Bakhtiari and Myers to be starters capable of playing a full game in the postseason but “things change,” and the team will monitor both over the next two weeks.
“We’ll see how they feel and how they respond,” LaFleur said.
The Packers have a week off but will practice throughout the week. The team will host the lowest remaining seed at Lambeau Field in the NFC Divisional Round.
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