@Boris posted:
I can't keep em all straight either 😝
BorisKiel
Bak had a number of setbacks from the original surgery on the knee. I think that was pretty well documented but what occurred last week seems really strange considering he wasn’t on the injury report even late Friday.
You factor in the background noise from Bak about playing on turf and MLFs pressers post ATL and something smells fishy.
Bryan Bulaga, Iowa, was on with Wilde and Tauscher this morning and, understandably, believes Bakhtiari had some swelling and fluid from his first action (60ish snaps) and couldn't go vs ATL. Tauscher agreed that is a very likely reality. They both also said though that this could all be cleared up if everyone at 1265 were on the same page since he was listed as Questionable.
@titmfatied posted:How he handles this situation speaks to his character and is going to determine if he's remembered like 88 or like 75. Not that he seems to care (which also tells you something about his character).
Here's my final thoughts on this....
Neither you nor I know what conversations 69 may or may not have had behind closed doors with MLF. Honestly, I just think MLF is sick of answering questions about it. Let's see what happens this weekend. Having 69 back at same form he was in game 1 would go a LONG way to putting a tally in the win column.
The only thing I would add to your post, Boss, is whether any thought is being given to holding out Bakh this weekend so he can play in the following game Thursday night versus Detroit. Unlikely he’d be able to manage a 4 day turnaround given what we’re seeing.
It would be nice to see 69 schooling Aidan Hutchinson. That would be a helluva battle.
@H5 posted:Bryan Bulaga, Iowa, was on with Wilde and Tauscher this morning and, understandably, believes Bakhtiari had some swelling and fluid from his first action (60ish snaps) and couldn't go vs ATL. Tauscher agreed that is a very likely reality. They both also said though that this could all be cleared up if everyone at 1265 were on the same page since he was listed as Questionable.
This is the most level headed take from two guys who would know.
@The Heckler posted:Something to me is totally rotten in this situation. I know his injury and recovery has been brutal but it is almost three years removed from when he first got hurt. It is rotten because either the medial staff doesn't know what they are doing or Bahk is up to some shenanigan's for making a point about turf or is being like a spoiled NBA player making life miserable for the franchise so he can go somewhere else.
I think of a players like Gary and Jenkins who came back less than a year after a knee injury. I don't know if their knee injuries compare at all to Bahk has experienced but that has me leaning towards perhaps this medical staff knows what they are doing.
Agree. All Bahk has to do is come out and say it's BS. I imagine he wants to control his image and the narrative, so just take the 30 seconds to tweet "The rumors about me sitting because of turf are BS."
Done. Reasonable people will trust his word.
Did that at his locker after practice today.
@ByRyanWood: David Bakhtiari just spoke over 20 minutes with media. Lots to come. Just to make this clear, Bakhtiari says he’ll always play on turf if his knee is healthy, regardless his feelings on turf.
The turf did not influence his availability last week. His knee couldn’t go.
@ByRyanWood: David Bakhtiari how knee feels when it flares up: "Debilitating enough to not play in a football game. I think that's the proper answer. If I could, or if it's just something and not enough, I would suit up and go play."
Bakh: "When my knee hits its limit, it hits its limit."
@ByRyanWood: Bakhtiari: "You think with what I've done, I would want to not play? Anyone who alludes to that, that's funny. For me, it's pretty devastating. Every game that goes by, I'm not getting any younger. What I want for myself, and what I want to give to this franchise, it's tough."
He needs more Vitamin B
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More from 69 today.
@ByRyanWood: Two questions to David Bakhtiari today. Asked him how close he’s come to calling it a career because of his knee, and if he wants to play next season.
Short answers: He’s too good to retire now, and he’ll play until doctors say his long-term health is at risk.
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Ryan Wood does a nice job here of summing up the quandary facing both Bakhtiari and the Packers:
@ByRyanWood: Here's the thing: David Bakhtiari is very, very good at football when he plays. He's not a liability. Far from it. That's why #Packers wanted him back. It's just, sometimes knee won't let him play.
Such a tough call. How do you walk away when you're still good at what you love?
I hope the best for Bakh, but the Packers really need to do what’s best for GB. It sucks. It’s a brutal, damn business but that’s the reality.
I’d be stunned, even in a contract restructure, if he’s here in ‘24. Continuity on an OL matters a lot. Having a LT at your most important position for a right handed QB be “part time” at best won’t cut it.
MLF needs to put his best 5 AVAILABLE players out there each week.
@packerboi posted:I hope the best for Bakh, but the Packers really need to do what’s best for GB. It sucks. It’s a brutal, damn business but that’s the reality.
I’d be stunned, even in a contract restructure, if he’s here in ‘24. Continuity on an OL matters a lot. Having a LT at your most important position for a right handed QB be “part time” at best won’t cut it.
MLF needs to put his best 5 AVAILABLE players out there each week.
He was never going to be here next year. His contract dictates he wouldn't be and he's too old (and now injured) to be re-signed or restructured. The reason he's still here at all is cuz he cost more to cut than to keep and when he does play he's still one of the best in the biz.
@Iowacheese posted:Need some factual information rather than speculation and conjecture.
The Hell you say?
But someone on the internet said he didn't play because the game was on turf, so let's run with that and accept it as gospel.
Maybe drawing up another receiving play for him would get him out of the tub
@ilcuqui posted:Such a tough call. How do you walk away when you're still good at what you love?
He's not walking away from shit. He said very early on in the rehab process he wasn't going to push anything because it was a "business decision."
The one's that will have to walk away are the Packers.
Probably the worst stroke of bad luck Gutey has had was signing him to the big extension, and days later, knee injury. It's time to move on from Big Dave...2024 LT1 has to be on the draft table very early. 69 won't be here next year...what we are seeing now is the highest level of reliability we can expect from him. His knee is fukt.