The Green Bay Packers crashed out of the Divisional Round on Saturday in disappointing fashion, but perhaps the outcome could've been different if star offensive tackle David Bakhtiari was playing.

After tearing his ACL on the last day of 2020, he didn't suit up again until Week 18 against the Lions. In that game, Bakhtiari felt a lot of discomfort in his knee and was ultimately sidelined for the biggest game of the Packers' season.

Head coach Matt LaFleur was asked about Bakhtiari's recovery and didn't express any serious concern, despite how long it's taken the All-Pro to get back to health.

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Via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic:

“I don’t think it was anybody’s fault as to why this happened,” LaFleur said. “I do know this: David worked his ass off on a daily basis to try to be available for us. It just didn’t work out. … The opinions we’ve gotten from not only our Packers docs but other docs as well is that structurally, everything looks good. But until we get there, until we work through this, I don’t think anybody truly knows. Everybody responds to these injuries a little bit differently. Unfortunately, in his case, it just has taken longer than it typically does. But I’ve got complete confidence that David, he’s so diligent, man. He does everything the right way. It’s just an unfortunate circumstance that we’re being dealt with right now.”

Bakhtiari is a key protector for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was sacked five times against San Francisco. On a more positive note, Bakhtiari now has lots of time to truly get back to full strength so he can be a regular contributor again next season.