INDIANAPOLIS - Don't be surprised to see both Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson on the practice field when the Green Bay Packers work out this offseason.
That's an indication of how minor Rodgers' knee surgery was and how well Nelson has recovered from the torn ACL that robbed him of his entire 2015 season.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he did not believe there would be any limitations on his quarterback. He also said that Nelson would be able to participate, at least in part, in some of the OTA sessions and be a full-go by training camp.
"He'll work there some, but I don't see him by the time training camp comes around having any limitations," McCarthy said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine.
McCarthy said Nelson is one of a handful of players who have stayed in Green Bay to work out and rehab injuries this offseason.
"He's around the building a lot of the time, I mean literally all the time," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said Thursday. "He's a workout, rehab freak like you would imagine, any of you guys who have been around him. That was a hard thing for him to do sitting out the season, but he looks great. You sometimes wonder if he was really hurt. I'm just kidding."
Nelson was injured in the Aug. 23 preseason game and had reconstructive surgery shortly thereafter. He remained in Green Bay and around the team all of last season. He was coming off a Pro Bowl year in 2014 in which he caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards -- both career highs-- and had 13 touchdowns.
Without Nelson, the Packers plummeted to their lowest offensive rankings -- 23rd overall and tied for 25th in passing -- in the McCarthy/Rodgers era.
Nelson will turn 31 in May, but the Packers expressed no concern that the injury would slow him down.
"I think where he is in his career, I'm not really worried about him getting back to where he was just pure skill set and his motor skill set because I think we have plenty of time for that," McCarthy said. "He's way ahead of schedule. I'm more in tune -- it's a conversation frankly I've already had with Jordy with this fifth preseason game and how we play him in the preseason. I think that's a conversation you have with each and every veteran player who's coming back from a major injury. There's definitely a threshold and transition that those guys have to go through."
Although Rodgers never made mention of his knee issues during the season, McCarthy said he knew postseason surgery was a possibility but that it rarely impacted his performance.
"At times, it may have adjusted a direction or two in a game or two, just kind of the way you went," McCarthy said. "But he never complained about it. It didn't surprise me that he needed to get surgery. He's played a lot of football."
McCarthy joked that Rodgers looked fine on the golf course. Rodgers played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this month. In another injury note, McCarthy said receiver Ty Montgomery, who played in only six games before undergoing ankle surgery, may not be ready until the start of training camp.