The Green Bay Packers and Jordan Love‘s hopes of remedying their offensive woes took a major blow in the aftermath of a Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Pro Bowl lineman Elgton Jenkins was carted off the field during the 10-7 loss, and the worst has proved true for Green Bay.
Jenkins was placed on the Packers’ injured reserve list on Tuesday, November 11 with what ESPN sourced was a lower-leg fracture. He is likely out for the remainder of the regular season.
Jenkins ranked sixth among qualifying guards with a 72.5 pass-blocking grade by Pro Football Focus (PFF). He’s allowed just six pressures on 124 true pass sets.
Sean Rhyan filled in at center after Jenkins left the game.
Packers’ Elgton Jenkins Exacerbates Questions Facing Jordan Love, Matt LaFleur
Matt LaFleur’s trust in Love came into question following the loss to the Eagles on Monday night.
Facing fourth-and-1, LaFleur called an inside zone run that Philadelphia predicted and stopped to clinch the game. Running back Josh Jacobs said he heard the Eagles calling out the play before the snap.
The Packers offense has sputtered in back-to-back weeks, as there is a growing trend that LaFleur cannot get the offense to take flight without dominance in the ground game.
Critics have argued that he should lean more on Love and pivot to an air raid offense. However, there is the potential that Love cannot handle being the epicenter of the offense despite the Packers paying him $55 million a year.
Whether LaFleur proves stubborn or finally leans on Love will determine how the rest of the season goes for Green Bay.
After pacing the divisional title chase, the Packers fell to third in the NFC North standings following a second straight loss.
In the penultimate year of his contract, LaFleur addressed his job security going down the final stretch of the season.
“I’ll leave that for everybody else to decide,” LaFleur said. “I’ll just focus on the day-to-day and trying to do — I feel like you’re always coaching for everything in this league, you know? That’s just my mindset, it’s always been that way. You can’t ever exhale. You’ve got to always be pushing. That’s just my mindset and that will be my mindset until they tell me not to coach anymore.”
Elgton Jenkins May Have Played His Final Snap for Packers
GettyPackers veteran center Elgton Jenkins.
Overshadowed by the mess that’s the Packers offense is a solemn reality facing Jenkins.
Jenkins still has one more year on his contract left, but the Packers opted not to re-sign him in the offseason entering his age-30 season. A two-time Pro Bowler, Jenkins has been the linchpin of the Packers offensive front, willingly changing positions several times throughout his career.
His stint at center was considered a potential prove-it year for a new contract this offseason. However, his health is a concern.
Jenkins carries a $4.8 million dead cap hit if he’s cut in the offseason, but over $20 million in cap savings.
The Packers and Jenkins will have to work out a restructure if he is going to stay in Green Bay.
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