Jordy Nelson Injury May Not Ruin Packers’ Season
When N.F.L. fans watch their favorite team play its exhibition games, they seldom care too much about winning and losing. Instead, they hope to see veterans look sharp and rookies look promising. But most of all, they hope the key players come out unscathed.
Green Bay Packers fans were horrified by Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh, and it had nothing to do with losing it, 24-19.
Early in the first quarter, the Pro Bowl receiver Jordy Nelson injured his left knee, and the prognosis did not seem good. Speculation immediately centered on a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which would knock Nelson out for the season.
There was not yet an official announcement of his condition, but the mood among the Packers afterward was somber. “It’s difficult to lose a guy like that in a meaningless game,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
Nelson is coming off two straight strong seasons; last year he made the Pro Bowl after racking up 98 catches, 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns, all team highs.
Every team suffers injuries every year. In the same game, the Steelers lost the Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, who is likely to need surgery on his ankle. Last week, the Carolina Panthers lost their top receiver, Kelvin Benjamin, for the season.
The Packers have faced key injuries to skill players before, including Rodgers, who missed half the season in 2013. But while injuries like Nelson’s are a blow, it is not time for Packers fans to give up on the season.
In 2010, the team lost its No. 1 running back, Ryan Grant, in Week 1. He had run for 1,200-plus yards in each of the previous two seasons. The journeyman Brandon Jackson and the sixth-round draft pick James Starks stepped in.
In 1996, the No. 1 receiver Robert Brooks was knocked out for the season in Week 7, the year after he had a 1,400-yard season. The team still had Antonio Freeman and leaned much more on 32-year-old Don Beebe.
In both years, the Packers won the Super Bowl.
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