GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Jordy Nelson stepped in front of the JUGS machine on Monday after practice -- his first practice -- and he wasn’t exactly sure how the “Man Hands” drill worked.
As the veteran of the Green Bay Packers receiver group, Nelson immediately went to the front of the line upon his return. Yet on this drill, he needed a reminder that he’s supposed to stick his hands right up next to the machine and snag a ball as soon as it shoots out and then drop to a knee and do it again.
One ball slipped through his hands. Considering that it was his first practice in 364 days, it should not have been a surprise.
But Luke Getsy, the Packers’ first-year receivers coach, would be shocked if it happened again.
“He’s such an experienced person that literally like one rep in, he’s going to be back on his feet again,” Getsy said after practice. “I don’t think we have any issues or thoughts or worries about reacclimating Jordy into this game. He’s doing a great job. It’s our focus that he gets a little bit better every single day.”
To Nelson, his return on Monday was “hardly even a practice.” After all, the only time he ran routes against anyone, his fellow receivers Randall Cobb and Davante Adams covered him. But neither Getsy nor anyone around Nelson seemed worried that the Pro Bowl receiver would be any different than he was in 2014, when he posted career highs with 98 catches and 1,519 yards.
“It’s just a matter of getting back into the groove of it,” Adams said. “You don’t really lose it. It’s just a matter of knocking off some of the rust that he may have, but I mean he’s going to be fine coming back. He’s been working. It’s not like he’s been sitting around waiting for his body to just naturally heal. He’s been treating and he’s been working and catching the ball. He’ll be fine. He’s a Pro Bowl, all-star-caliber receiver. He’ll be just fine.”
One year ago today, Nelson tore the ACL in his right knee and it cost him the entire 2015 season. A year later, he will take the field for his second practice of training camp with his eye on returning for the regular-season opener at Jacksonville on Sept. 11.
It’s not the playbook or the chemistry with quarterback Aaron Rodgers that appears to be the concern.
“We’d like to get some reps with him, but there’s a lot of history there, Jordy and the offense, Jordy with Aaron,” associate head coach/offense Tom Clements said. “I think either way it goes we’ll be fine.”
And it’s not the confidence Nelson must find in his surgically repaired knee.
“Once you get back on the field and take that first snap, a live rep, it’s more of a progression that you just keep getting more comfortable and confident,” said Packers receiver Jared Abbrederis, who tore his ACL in 2014. “I think that’s the biggest thing, is just being confident with it. Once you take that hit, once you get the first snap, all that stuff kind of helps.”
Rather, the concern is that Nelson won’t be able to replicate the conditions he’ll face in the season opener at Jacksonville, where the high temperature on Sept. 11 last year was 91 degrees with a head index of 96.4. The rest, Nelson says, is a non-issue.
“It’s the conditioning more than anything, especially being in Jacksonville Week 1,” Nelson said. “It’s going to vary, and I’m sure everyone is going to pick it apart. If we miss a play here and there, it’s going to be because we missed all of last year and training camp.
“I’m sure it was already out there today that we missed one pass today. But, yeah, I’ll wait and see, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”
Nothing -- not even playing a series or two in a preseason game, which at this point doesn’t appear to be in the plans -- could prepare Nelson for a drive like the Packers had to open the preseason game against the Oakland Raiders last Thursday, when they went 74 yards on 14 plays on a drive that ate up 7 minutes 36 seconds of game clock.
“He’s in great shape, but 14-, 15-play drive, and now you’re on the 5-yard line and you’ve got to dig deep, I think that’s different than you can practice on your own some other time,” Getsy said. “It’s not just him. it’s all the receivers that are out there. I mean, how many times have you guys seen us with those long drives, with Aaron in there. Shoot, we had a couple of them last week.”