Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson is ready to return to the field.
How long he’s able to stay on it this week, even he doesn’t know.
After recovering from last preseason’s torn ACL, the Packers deep threat said things such as the weather in Jacksonville and the plays they run for him could determine how many snaps he gets in his comeback game.
“I’m ready for anything,” Nelson said, via Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “There’s so much that goes into a game, the flow of a game, how it works, the plays that get called, the routes I end up running. There’s so much to it.
“If I end up for some reason getting three deep balls in a row, yeah I’m coming out. I’ll come out at the end of the year on that, too. Things happen throughout a game that, you know, I could run a bunch of short routes all the way down the field and never have a problem. It’s just going to be how the game flows.”
The Packers offense lacked flow last year without Nelson, and soreness in the non-ACL knee kept him off the field for most of this year’s training camp. He admitted that’s not an ideal situation, but the rapport he’s developed with quarterback Aaron Rodgers should make his acclimation an easier one, even if he doesn’t play every snap.
“We’re not going to put a number on it,” Nelson said. “We’ve discussed it. I think the situation of being in Jacksonville, we’ll play it by snap-by-snap to be honest with you. There’s a lot of things that could happen differently. But seeing how the possessions are taken, seeing what the weather is like, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of guys are rotating to stay fresh.
“Going through camp and everything would have prepared me better. But that’s not the situation I’ve been put in. I was in the meetings, I was at practice, I ran routes, so I’m not — I don’t feel like I’m behind.”
The Packers kept seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster, and five of them figure to be active this week. So even if Nelson’s not out there every play, having him available could give their offense the juice it lacked last season.
