Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that he doesn’t know if David Bakhtiari will play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he’s not changing his game-planning procedure in large part because backup Yosh Nijman has played so well at left tackle through two games in 2022.
“I think Yosh has done a damn good job in his time starting for us,” LaFleur said.
LaFleur said the Packers haven’t had to change much in terms of game-planning because of the way Nijman has played to start 2022.
“We’re not going to game plan any different,” LaFleur said.
Nijman has played 129 snaps at left tackle over two games. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s allowed only three pressures over 71 pass-blocking snaps – although he did allow a sack to Robert Quinn in Week 2 – and has the third-best pass-blocking grades among NFL offensive tackles with at least 20 pass-blocking snaps in 2022.
Nijman is in Year 4 with the Packers. He started eight games at left tackle in 2021 and now appears to be making another jump in performance in 2022.
The challenges never stop as a left tackle in the NFL. Next up is the Buccaneers, who start Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka at edge rusher. Barrett is one of the best rushers in football, and Tryon-Shoyinka was a first-round pick in 2021.
It’s certainly possible Nijman and Elgton Jenkins will be the tackle duo attempting to keep them away from Aaron Rodgers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
LaFleur said he didn’t know if Bakhtiari – who has played one game since the start of the 2021 season – will be available on Sunday.
“We’re going to take it one day at a time, and we’ll see where we’re at on Sunday. I don’t even let my mind go there at this point,” LaFleur said.
