Advertisement

Green Bay Packers: Likelihood of O-line staying together slim

By The Sports Xchange
Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy (R) celebrates his touchdown with Green Bay Packers guard Josh Sitton in the first quarter of their game against the Chicago Bears November 26, 2015, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Photo by Frank Polich/UPI
Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy (R) celebrates his touchdown with Green Bay Packers guard Josh Sitton in the first quarter of their game against the Chicago Bears November 26, 2015, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Photo by Frank Polich/UPI | License Photo

GREEN BAY -- Green Bay Packers tackle David Bakhtiari doesn't like the odds.

Three months before the Packers kick off the 2016 season Sept. 11 with a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a forthright Bakhtiari sized up the likelihood the team keeps its starting offensive line intact next year.

Advertisement

"We've got a lot of guys up," said Bakhtiari, the incumbent left tackle who is entering the final year of his contract, along with Pro Bowl left guard Josh Sitton and right guard T.J. Lang.

"If I'm gambling, I'm going to bet that not all of us are going to come back. That's just how the nature of the beast is," Bakhtiari said during organized team activities.

The Packers finish their OTAs this week, hold minicamp June 14-16 and then will have a little more than a month off before training camp starts.

Advertisement

By then, Green Bay expects to have its preferred starting five of Bakhtiari, Sitton, center Corey Linsley, Lang and right tackle Bryan Bulaga on the field for the first time since its 26-20 overtime loss at the Arizona Cardinals in the divisional round of the playoffs in January.

Lang, who underwent surgery in February for what he recently revealed to be a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and Linsley have been held out of the spring workouts. A reason for Linsley's nonparticipation hasn't been given, though the third-year pro missed considerable time toward the end of last season with an ankle injury.

Green Bay's offensive line was rarely healthy in 2015. A season after the Packers had only one missed start by their top five, the returning quintet played together only eight out of 18 games last season, including the playoffs.

"I think if we can stay healthy we're a great unit. I think we've proved that," said Sitton, the elder statesman of the O-line who turns 30 on June 16. "Sometimes, you just get unlucky, and you get the injury bug. We got it a little bit. Bryan and Dave and Corey missed a handful of games. When you don't have your guys out there, you're going to struggle a little bit."

Advertisement

Sitton was the only lineman to start every game in 2015.

Despite an abundance of missed starts and other games when starters left with an injury last season, the returning fivesome has played a league-high 1,375 snaps together since 2014, according to Pro Football Focus.

"We've taken so many reps next to each other, it just becomes second nature to you," said Lang, who's entering his eighth pro season. "It's definitely a benefit when you get to play next to the same guys for a couple years. I went through, I think, three or four years there where not only I had a new center, I had a new tackle (next to me) as well.

"We're going into our third year now as the same five, and it's truly a positive to us. If we stay healthy, I think everybody in here feels like we can be the best line in the league."

Keeping them together beyond this season would seem to be a long shot, however.

The writing may have been on the wall for one or more of the prospective 2017 free agents when general manager Ted Thompson traded up in the second round of the draft in April to take Indiana tackle Jason Spriggs with the 48th overall pick.

Advertisement

The Packers also selected Stanford tackle Kyle Murphy in the sixth round.

Meanwhile, Green Bay has an experienced group of young backups' waiting in the wings, led by the fourth-year tandem of center/guard JC Tretter and guard Lane Taylor. Tretter's contract also is due to be up after the upcoming season.

"Nobody knows what's going to happen, and only time will tell," Lang said. "Everybody is just kind of taking it day by day and just enjoying each other's company because you don't know what's going to happen, nobody does. But, we've still got a lot of games left before something like that is decided. Until then, we'll just take it slow and just enjoy the time we have together."

Latest Headlines