LaFleur: Bakhtiari will practice, MVS may practice this week

As one offensive lineman goes down, another may come back.

On Monday, head coach Matt LaFleur commented on the status of the two players who can possibly return to the Packers’ 53-man roster this week off of the injury lists: offensive tackle David Bakhtiari and wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. LaFleur was hesitant to commit to Bakhtiari playing against the Washington Football Team but did say that he will begin practicing this week. Bakhtiari, who is recovering from a 2020 ACL injury, will have 21 days to return to Green Bay’s 53-man roster once he begins to practice with the team.

Things are less optimistic for Valdes-Scantling, who LaFleur said may practice this week. Valdes-Scantling has been missing time with a hamstring injury he suffered against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3. This week marks the first week that he can return to the active roster, but based on how LaFleur talked about the wideout, I wouldn’t expect him to play in Week 7. In his absence, Davante Adams has posted 359 receiving yards over three games, but no other Packers wideout has totaled 100 receiving yards over the last three-game stretch.

LaFleur also called cornerback Kevin King “day-to-day” as he recovers with his shoulder injury and said that center Josh Myers will “most likely” miss a couple of games with a knee injury. Yesterday, LaFleur made it clear that he didn’t expect Myers’ knee injury to be season-ending.

Outside linebacker Preston Smith missed most of last week’s game against the Bears with an oblique injury, which could keep him out against Washington. LaFleur said the team is going to see how he’s feeling this week, so that’s an injury to monitor moving forward. With Za’Darius Smith already on the injured reserve list, the Packers would likely start Jonathan Garvin in his place. Garvin (44 snaps) drastically out-snapped La’Darius Hamilton (12 snaps) last week. If Smith can’t go this week, the Packers would probably have to call up outside linebacker Tipa Galeai from the practice squad just to get four pass-rushers active for Sunday’s game.

On the topic of Jaire Alexander, Green Bay’s Pro Bowl cornerback, LaFleur stated that he “can’t 100 percent” rule out season-ending shoulder surgery for the defensive back but they “feel like it’s progressing nicely.” There was no timetable set for when a decision needs to be made on Alexander’s status before having a clear answer if he will need surgery or not.