By any measure, Week 3 was not a good showing for the Packers offensive line. Sure, they had two injuries, with both tackle Zach Tom and guard Aaron Banks departing the game after coming back from missing Week 2, but even still, the line allowed six sacks and a whopping 16 pressures on just 31 pass plays.
For veteran center Elgton Jenkins, a two-time Pro Bowler in his seventh season with the team and his first at center, Sunday’s game—which ended with an ugly 13-10 loss—should come as a wake-up call for the line. That includes himself, he said, as he has struggled to make the transition to the middle.
Jenkins was blunt in his self-assessment heading into Week 4 in Dallas, in fact.
“I feel like I’m playing like (expletive), honestly,” Jenkins said this week at practice. “I can play way better.”
Elgton Jenkins: ‘It Wasn’t a Good Performance’
Jenkins conceded that the line took a tongue-lashing in film sessions from coach Matt LaFleur, but Jenkins said it was both expected and warranted. He’d given the same summation of the unit’s performance himself.
“Everything he said, I already said it to myself,” Jeknins said. “It wasn’t a good performance on my part or in our unit. But we definitely got the guys to go out there every Sunday and compete with whoever, no matter if it is the No. 1 defense or the No. 32 defense in the league. But we just gotta go out there and have pride in our work and play to our standard.”
The Packers, Jenkins said, need to get back to communication and details:
“Just make sure everybody is paying attention. Everybody has to be paying attention to details. The small things is what adds up during the week, and during the games. The pre-snap penalties, the miscommunication, the not communicating on the field, and off the field—I feel like that is going to be key moving forward just so we can be the unit we know we are capable of being.”
Packers Dealing With O-Line Injuries
The line is dealing with injuries, and that’s a concern. Both Tom (oblique) and Banks (groin) could be out again, as neither practiced on Wednesday. Tackles Rasheed Walker (quad) and Anthony Belton (ankle) were limited.
Jenkins said there are no excuses though, and the unit will stand by a next-man-up mentality.
“We just got to regroup,” he said. “Especially, like, the offensive line room … Last Sunday was a bad performance for us. I told those guys, look yourself in the mirror when you go home. Make sure you be critical with the things that you put on film. We just gotta be better—me, myself first.
“We hold ourselves to a higher standard. That wasn’t, what we put on film, that wasn’t us.”
Packers Facing Off vs. Kenny Clark, Cowboys
Sunday figures to be an odd day for Jenkins, who will be going against longtime teammate Kenny Clark in Dallas. Clark was sent to the Cowboys as part of the Micah Parsons trade. It will be Jenkins vs. Clark in the middle of the line.
“It’s man-on-man,” Jenkins said. “Honestly, I don’t say anybody got an advantage because it’s just who come out there and play.”
The Packers do need a win, though. At the very least, the line will be facing a much lighter challenge—the Cowboys have forced just one turnover and have only four sacks in three games.
“Just go to Jerry (Jones) World and play good football,” Jenkins said. “At the end of the day, run the football, protect the quarterback, give him time, create holes and let the defense do what they do.”
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