Given the severity of the upcoming surgery, doctors wanted to exercise all other options and rule out other causes before venturing down this path. After checking all boxes, Bakhtiari underwent an arthroscopic procedure last week that confirmed the surgery was necessary.
Bakhtiari didn’t provide a date but said it will be performed by Chicago-based orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Brian J. Cole. He hopes to be ready for training camp next summer.
“In my knee, it’s basically like sandpaper where it rubs, it’s just not smooth, which is creating a lot of fluid,” Bakhtiari said. “I’ve been dealing (with) a lot of effusion for a long time, and that’s where you see the constant, I’m in and then I’m out, I’m out and then I’m in. We wanted to make sure that we could address every possible way to not do it because we understood what the surgery has to be.”
It’s another frustrating setback for the 32-year-old lineman, who was voted to five AP All-Pro teams in his first eight years as the Packers’ starting left tackle.
Bakhtiari has endured several lengthy rehabs to get to this point and the hope was an offseason without surgery would set the table for a big comeback in 2023. Instead, the 6-foot-4, 314-pound tackle likely faces another lengthy rehabilitation.
When asked why go through it again, Bakhtiari thought about the question for a second before speaking directly from the heart.
“Because I’m different,” Bakhtiari said. “I have an unparalleled work ethic. I’m stubborn as (heck) and I’m not gonna let someone else write my story. This is me just taking control of what I need to do. When I want to look back, do I want to look at the guy who got injured and was like ah, that’s good enough? If that’s not me, then the future, older me is gonna be (ticked) at the younger me.”
Bakhtiari, who’s the longest tenured player on the Packers’ current roster, has one year remaining on the contract he signed before his ACL tear in 2020.
Bakhtiari acknowledged his own football mortality and the uncertainty about his future in Green Bay but spoke on the positive working relationship he has with General Manager Brian Gutekunst and many individuals around the building.
He also mentioned an uplifting conversation he had with an unnamed Packers staffer who recently pulled him aside and reminded Bakhtiari “you can’t eat an elephant in one bite. It’s one piece at a time.”
“So, that’s what I intend on doing,” Bakhtiari added. “Making sure I attack the rehab, win the day, take the bites out of that elephant, finish the elephant, and then decide and see.
“They have decisions they need to make, what’s best for their franchise. I understood that the minute I got in here. And I’ve seen every face go. (Someday) this face is going to go, too. I can’t live here. Maybe.”
