Jenkins will begin his road back to full practice participation on Monday.
Monday is a big day for the Green Bay Packers, as the team will take a notable step towards getting its preferred starting offensive line all together. The last part of that puzzle, Elgton Jenkins, has been sitting out to start camp after landing on the non-football injury list. However, as of Monday, Jenkins is officially off the NFI list and will begin ramping back up towards practice participation.
Head coach Matt LaFleur made the announcement about Jenkins’ activation in his morning press conference ahead of Monday’s practice, which will be the team’s first in full pads this summer. LaFleur added that Jenkins will go through a similar ramp-up period to other players coming off injury lists, in that he will start with individual drills for a time before working his way into team periods.
Jenkins is making a move from left guard to center this season after the Packers’ free agent acquisition of Aaron Banks. However, reports indicate that he is looking for some longer-term contract assurances from the Packers, given that he has two years remaining on his current deal with no guaranteed money remaining.
To that end, Jenkins did not participate in voluntary OTA practices this spring, despite having $500,000 in workout bonuses in his contract. He also sat out the team’s veteran minicamp practices in June, though he was present. His lack of participation in minicamp practices may have been related to the back issue that affected him during the first week of training camp rather than the contract issue, especially in light of recent comments from Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.
Speaking before the start of training camp, Gutekunst told the media that he expected Jenkins to be a full participant in practice as soon as he was healthy and ready to do so, indicating that any contract discussions would not impact his availability. Assuming that is indeed the case, the Packers may finally have their full complement of linemen ready to go later this week.
Once Jenkins returns at center, the team will likely have a first-string offensive line of Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Banks at left guard, Jenkins at center, and Zach Tom at right tackle. The main question at that point will be is at right guard; last year’s starter, Sean Rhyan has been the No. 1 center in Jenkins’ absence, while Jordan Morgan has played left guard for a few recent practice periods while Banks sat out with a minor injury.