Left tackle David Bakhtiari, who was a limited participant in his first participation report of the season yesterday, has officially been listed as doubtful for this weekend’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. One would assume that after he didn’t practice on Friday, Bakhtiari will not play, leading to guard Elgton Jenkins making another start as (hopefully) Aaron Rodgers’ blindside bookend.
Clark, St. Brown and Stokes all questionable for Sunday. Stokes was the only one of the three who was a full participant in practice today. pic.twitter.com/th1wPYX38b
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) November 12, 2021
The Packers did receive good news today, though, as tackle Dennis Kelly and defensive lineman Dean Lowry, who was on a pitch count last week, were given a clean bill of health for Sunday’s game. Starting defensive lineman Kenny Clark (back) and cornerback Eric Stokes (knee), along with receiver Equanimeous St. Brown (ankle), have been listed as questionable going into the game.
The big question marks, aside from Bakhtiari, are tight end Dominique Dafney (hamstring) and defensive lineman Kingsley Keke (concussion) who are also listed as doubtful. Dafney played 25 offensive snaps last week following Robert Tonyan’s injury, while Keke hasn’t played since Week 8’s Thursday Night Football matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
If Dafney, who hasn’t practiced all week, can’t go, the Packers will have to lean on Marcedes Lewis, Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis at tight end. For the most part, Davis has been used as a special-teamer this season and there might be a slight chance that the team moves up Bronson Kaufusi from the practice squad to give the team more snaps at the position and on special teams. On top of his 22 snaps per game on offense in the four games Dafney has been active for, he has also averaged a little over 10 snaps per game on special teams this season.
If Keke isn’t available to play and Lowry is still on a pitch count, expect TJ Slaton to get snaps on the defensive line. Last week. Slaton hit 45 defensive snaps vs the Kansas City Chiefs, after only recording more than 10 snaps twice (with a high of 16) prior to Week 9.
The Seahawks have officially ruled out two players, safety Marquise Blair (knee) and cornerback Bless Austin (non-injury reason, personal matter), for the game this week while two others, linebacker Cody Barton (quadricep) and defensive tackle Al Woods (non-injury reason), have been listed as questionable. The Seahawks look relatively healthy on paper, though they still need to make announcements on the status of quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Chris Carson.
Green Bay also has to make an announcement of their own on Saturday, as that’s the day that Rodgers can officially return to the facility, should he clear the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
