The Green Bay Packers lost prolific wideout Jordy Nelson in the preseason last year, and he never saw a snap. He had a torn ACL. This year, he’s back in the lineup, but he still doesn’t feel like he’s 100 percent back, even though his knee is healthy. He recently said:
“It’s more about the level of play on the field. To me, it’s been all right. I’d like to be more consistent with what I’m doing, but I don’t know if that’s from having a year off and getting back or what. I’m still working at it. I’m halfway through. We’ll see how it is at the end of the year.”
That being said, if he keeps up the pace he’s on right now, he’ll have 76 catches and 1,018 yards at the end of the year. He’ll also have 14 touchdowns. Those are numbers that most wideouts in the NFL would love to have, but he doesn’t think it’s quite good enough. Technically, that would be below his most productive years, even though the stats look great on paper.
He may simply be frustrated because the Packers’ offense has not been as good as they hoped this year. There are a lot of reasons for that, such as injuries at the RB position and the lower level of play from QB Aaron Rodgers. It’s not all on Nelson. As a competitor, though, he feels that he needs to get better and help pick up the team when it is struggling.
Typically, it takes a year for an ACL injury to heal to the point that you can play. However, many players often say it takes two years to really get back into the groove, trusting your knee and feeling like you can do everything on the field. Nelson now knows what that’s like.
