It has not been a great couple of weeks for the Green Bay Packers. After starting off the season 2-0 and looking like a legitimate Super Bowl contender, the Pack have fallen flat on their face in two-straight games.
A 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns was followed up with a 40-40 tie with the Dallas Cowboys that felt more like a loss. Now, the Packers sit at 2-1-1 and they're looking to get back on the winning track.
Aiding them in that effort is the fact that two key players along the offensive line appear to be getting healthy.
The first is right tackle Zach Tom, who is arguably the Packers' best offensive lineman and a staple of the offensive line. He suffered an oblique injury in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions and has been struggling to get back. On Monday, after the bye week, he was back at practice.
The second is starting right guard Aaron Banks, who was a big free agent signing for the Packers this past offseason. Like Tom, Banks injured himself against Detroit (groin) and despite attempts to get back, he wound up inactive in Week 4 against the Cowboys. And much like Tom, Banks is back in practice after the bye week.
Getting two starters back on the offensive line will be a huge help for the Packers moving forward.
These three players will benefit the most, though.
This is obvious, isn't it? Still, it's worth noting that Love was under an absolute barrage in Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns, and the Packers' offense looked disjointed and discombobulated.
He was sacked five times and hit seven times.
The offensive line was better against Dallas, but it's still a unit that has been too it or miss when it comes to protecting Love, the face of the franchise.
When he's got a clean pocket, Love has the upside to be a Top 5 NFL quarterback. Let's see if the Packers can give that to him against the Bengals.
This is another obvious one, isn't it?
The fact of the matter is that all on his own, Josh Jacobs is an All-Pro running back. The problem is that he can only do so much, and the Packers' offensive line has struggled with getting him some room to run this season.
He does have 266 yards and four touchdowns on 80 carries, but he's averaging only 3.3 yards per carry. Keep in mind, last season, Jacobs averaged 4.4 yards per carry.
That's really where he needs to be in order for this Packers' offense to be successful, so getting starting talent back on the offensive line is going to be huge for both him and Matt LaFleur.
After two obvious ones, perhaps this one is a bit out of left field. Speaking of left, the Packers moved Jenkins from left guard (where he was an All-Pro player) to center this past offseason with the hopes that he could be an All-Pro center as well.
Through four games, it's not necessarily been pretty for Jenkins, but he's also the centerpiece of an offensive line that has been banged up and dealt with plenty of change. One gets the sense that perhaps Jenkins has had the pressure of keeping this thing together on his shoulders, so his play should benefit from the reintroduction of Banks and Tom to the starting lineup.