Packers receiver Nelson ahead of schedule with ACL rehab
With the NFL Combine ongoing, as top prospects are evaluated leading up to April's draft, and free agency beginning shortly, teams are in the process of figuring out who to add to their rosters.
The Green Bay Packers will gain a valuable piece in 2016 and he was already on their roster. Wide receiver Jordy Nelson missed the entire 2015 season after he tore his ACL in a preseason game against Pittsburgh on Aug. 23.
According to both general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy, Nelson, who Thompson referred to as a "rehab freak," will be ready for training camp.
"That was a hard thing for him to do, sit out a season, but he looks great," Thompson said during an interview session at the combine in Indianapolis.
McCarthy said Nelson is "way ahead of schedule" and they discussed how much they'll play him in the preseason -- the Packers have five such games this year instead of four due to the Hall of Fame game -- and that Nelson should do some work before training camp, at the organized team activities.
Nelson had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons with a combined 21 touchdowns before suffering his injury. In seven seasons with the Packers, Nelson has 400 catches for 6,109 yards with 49 TDs. Nelson will be 31 in the 2016 season and is coming off a missed year, but McCarthy isn't concerned.
"The surgery was a success, so I think where he is in his career, I'm not really worried about him getting back as far as just where he was pure his skill set and his gross motor skill set, because, I think we have plenty of time for that (and) he's way ahead of schedule," McCarthy said.
Green Bay appears to have a deep wide receiver corps -- although the team will surely bring in some more bodies, especially to get through that five-game exhibition grind. Besides Nelson, the Packers return Jared Abbrederis, Davante Adams, Randall Cobb and Jeff Janis. Both Abbrederis and Janis got valuable playing time late in the season and the playoffs.
"I think just the last game, particularly the playoff games that we played in is a great illustration of how you have to have as many good young players as you possibly can, because if you look at playoff football, there's a lot of young players playing in those games, a lot of young players playing at the end of the season," McCarthy said.
"As far as the competition as we sit today, its wide open," he added. "All those guys have done some good things, done things they can learn from. They're all comfortable in the offense, they have relationship with the quarterback. It'll be important to build relationship with Brett (Hundley) when we get going here in April. We're playing an extra game, the Hall of Fame game, so we'll have a lot of extra reps for our young guys."
One player not mentioned was James Jones, who is a free agent. Unlike the other four wide receivers not named Nelson, he is no youngster, turning 32 on March 31. A late addition last year after being cut by the New York Giants, Jones provided some stability, catching 50 passes for a career-high 890 yards with eight touchdowns.
But will there be any room for him on the 2016 Packers? Thompson said Jones, as well as fellow free agent James Starks, are "part of the group we'd like to have back."
