Lost in the noise of Aaron Rodgers testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers revealed that second-round rookie center Josh Myers had recently undergone surgery while spending time on injured reserve. The only trouble is that it doesn’t sound like the Packers wanted to share that information.
The disclosure of Myers’ surgery — which previously had not been public knowledge — came on November 3 when Packers offensive line coach Adam Stenavich was asked about the rookie center’s recovery during his weekly press conference with reporters and accidentally referenced his recent procedure.
“He just surgery a couple days ago,” Stevavich said Wednesday, “so he’s kind of getting to the mindset of, ‘All right, it happened, now I’ve got to get my mind right to attack rehab and all that stuff to get back soon — or as fast as possible.’ He seems to be in as good a place as you can be for a guy coming off surgery and everything like that. He’s just doing meetings and rehabbing and doing all that stuff, staying mentally into it until he can get back out there.”
Myers was placed on injured reserve on October 23 with a knee injury he had sustained about six days earlier in Week 6’s win over the Chicago Bears. Up until now, though, the Packers had not shared any specific details about the injury or when they expected Myers could return with head coach Matt LaFleur only saying that he did not think it would cause him to miss the rest of the 2021 season.
Even after surgery, Stenavich said it “sounds like there is a chance” Myers will return to the starting lineup before the end of the year, but LaFleur had no interest in adding anything further on the matter when reporters asked for clarification on November 4 about whether Myers’ surgery was for his finger or knee. (He had also been battling a finger injury since the season opener that sidelined him in Week 5).
“Yeah, I’m not gonna talk about a guy’s surgery,” LaFleur said before smiling and adding: “That was a mistake” as a subtle reference to Stenavich’s disclosure.
The latest Packers news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Packers newsletter here!
Bakhtiari’s Status Remains ‘Day-to-Day’
While it doesn’t seem like the Packers are expecting to have Myers back in the lineup any time soon, they are getting closer to the return of All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari. The 30-year-old stalwart of their offensive line has been practicing again since Week 7 and slowly working toward re-activation after spending the majority of the past year rehabbing from a torn ACL he sustained on New Year’s Eve.
“I think we’re getting to the point where it’s just day-to-day and seeing how far we can push him and (making) sure he’s feeling comfortable,” Stevanvich said. “Once he gets out there, you don’t really want to take a step back. You don’t want any setbacks, so we’re just every day giving him a little bit more and a little bit more. Eventually, he’ll feel comfortable to go out there and play. I don’t think any of us as coaches are going to push him to get out there faster than he feels comfortable, so that’s the biggest thing.”
LaFleur confirmed earlier in Week 9 that the Packers have an idea when Bakhtiari will play his next game, potentially eyeing him for return during this weekend’s road game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The team will have to make a decision one way or another about his roster status before his three-week activation window closes next week, but they could always activate him before he is ready to play.
Matt LaFleur Admits ‘Mistake’ With Rookie Josh Myers’ Injury