GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers were already without All Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari and now their Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins is expected to miss multiple weeks because of the left knee injury he sustained in Sunday's loss at the Falcons.
Jenkins said Monday that he was diagnosed with a sprained MCL. It's the same knee in which he had a torn ACL that ended his 2021 season. It was not immediately clear whether Jenkins will go on injured reserve, which would require him to miss a minimum of four games.
It happened on a short-yardage play in the second quarter, when running back AJ Dillon appeared to fall on Jenkins left leg.
"Just got landed on," said Jenkins, who was wearing a large brace on his knee to restrict movement.
While he said he was in the "wrong place, wrong time," he also blamed the artificial turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"I felt like it had something to do with it," Jenkins said. "Foot got caught in the ground and the turf didn't want to give, and all those good things. But yeah, it was just unfortunate, but it is what it is. It's football."
Bakhtiari, who last week renewed his campaign against artificial turf after Aaron Rodgers suffered the torn Achilles, was a late scratch before Sunday's game because of an apparent recurring issue from his 2020 torn ACL.
It was the second straight season that the Packers had to make a last-minute adjustment to go without him. It happened once last season, at Washington, when he could not go, and then also had games where he did not play the entire game -- including one turf game at Detroit.
Bakhtiari did not speak to reporters after the game or on Monday to address whether the playing surface had anything to do with the reason he did not play against the Falcons.
However, Packers coach Matt LaFleur clarified on Monday that it was injury related.
"There was swelling," LaFleur said.
When asked if Bakhtiari would have played if the game were at Lambeau Field, which has natural grass, LaFleur said: "I don't believe so."
Royce Newman finished the game in Jenkins' place, while Rasheed Walker started in Bakhtiari's absence. Yosh Nijman also played 12 snaps at left tackle.