Green Bay Packers rookie safety Kitan Oladapo, a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, is still recovering from surgery to fix a broken toe and is not participating during the team’s rookie minicamp this weekend.
Oladapo said he expects to be healthy by the start of training camp.
“Broke my toe at the combine and had surgery on it a couple of weeks ago,” Oladapo said. “So, I’m in the boot and hopefully I’ll be good by camp, in August.”
Oladapo said his big toe was injured during an on-field drill at the combine in Indianapolis. He worked through the injury at his pro day, participating in position drills, and then had surgery recently.
“Teams knew I was battling through an injury,” Oladapo said. “I went out there and did the best I can.”
Oladapo said he had surgery a week before the draft.
The former Oregon State star played in 46 games and made 39 starts in college. Assumed to be a potential Day 2 pick, Oladapo fell to No. 169 overall in the fifth round, and it’s certainly possible the injury — and recovery timeline — was part of the reason why.
Once healthy, Oladapo should get an opportunity to compete for snaps as a safety next to Xavier McKinney. The Packers also drafted Javon Bullard and Evan Williams, but Oladapo is more of a traditional safety type with nickel linebacker potential.
The injury is an unfortunate thing for a durable collegiate player who was on the field for all 39 games for Oregon State during his final three seasons.
One other factoid from Oladapo: The rookie said he was a Packer fan growing up. He mentioned Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Jordy Nelson and Clay Matthews and Sterling Sharpe among his favorite former players.
