Packers: Matt LaFleur gets heated when asked about David Bakhtiari's status

Matt LaFleur wasn't in the mood to answer questions about David Bakhtiari's status following the Green Bay Packers' loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.

Bakhtiari has been in and out of the lineup since tearing his ACL in late 2020. Despite playing in the season opener last week, Bakhtiari was listed as questionable on the Week 2 injury report and didn't play.

It raised a question about whether the Mercedes-Benz Stadium surface could have factored into the decision, which is fair to ask in the same week Bakhtiari made it clear why he believes every NFL game should be played on grass.

Zach Kruse of Packers Wire made a great point pregame that Bakhtiari only played half the game at Ford Field last year, which could also explain why the Packers would be cautious about him playing on a similar surface in Atlanta.

After all, it's a long season. The Packers want Bakhtiari to play as many games as possible.

Did he sit out of this game due to the turf in Atlanta? Who knows? But it's at least a fair question to ask. LaFleur didn't seem to think so.

Packers: Matt LaFleur shuts down questions about David Bakhtiari's status

As expected, reporters asked LaFleur about Bakhtiari's absence in Week 2 and whether it was related to the turf.

"No. We all know that Dave's been dealing with this, and so, no," said LaFleur. He cut off the first question before the reporter had finished asking it.

There was a follow-up. Could Bakhtiari miss future games played on artificial turf? Again, LaFleur was having none of it.

"You guys, I'm not going to get into that. We all know this has been two years now, so I'm not going to get into it. It's probably going to be like this from here on out."

And that was that. No further questions on Bakhtiari's status.

LaFleur was understandably frustrated following the Packers' one-point loss to the Falcons, and he wasn't in the mood to discuss Bakhtiari's status.

The Packers' offensive line held up pretty well, even without Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, who left the game with a knee injury. But Green Bay will certainly hope to have its All-Pro back next week in the home opener against the New Orleans Saints.

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