Jordy Nelson had ringside seats to Adrian Peterson’s comeback from ACL surgery, watching the Vikings running back gain 409 yards against the Packers in two games in 2012.
And as he works through his own ACL rehab, the Packers wide receiver hopes he can have the same kind of impact Peterson had that year.
“That’s what you’d hope. But you don’t know,” Nelson said, via Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. “That’s the plan. And we’ll find out.”
Nelson did catch six passes for 32 yards and a touchdown last week, playing 54 of the 64 snaps against the Jaguars. But he admitted he still didn’t feel like himself, saying he had “heavy legs.”
But having gone through the process, Peterson said Nelson just has to be confident in his own body.
“He has to mentally understand that his ACL, that ligament in particular, is stronger than the one he didn’t tear,” Peterson said. “So pass that message on to him -- that the one he tore is stronger than the one he didn’t tear. So, [he should] go out there and just cut it loose. You’ve got to play fast, you’ve got to have that confidence to understand that piece of it, and know that, ‘I can go out and I’m still going to be good.’”
Of course, Peterson was 27 when he came back from his, while Nelson’s 31. But Nelson said he’s not thinking about re-injuring himself, and hopes he can get back to the kind of deep threat the Packers need.
