Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson will not play in Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round playoff game versus the NFC’s number one seed Dallas Cowboys. Aaron Rodgers‘ favorite receiver sustained multiple rib fractures in the Packers 38-13 victory over the New York Giants during Wild Card Weekend.
Green Bay Packers WR Jordy Nelson Ruled Out Against Dallas Cowboys
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy announced on Friday that Nelson has been officially ruled out for Sunday’s matchup against the Cowboys. McCarthy also stated that Green Bay’s candidate for Come Back Player of the Year will not only travel with the team to Texas, but he’ll also be on the sidelines at AT&T Stadium to support his teammates.
ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky spoke to the Packers gunslinger on Wednesday, and Rodgers spoke about his team and the importance of Jordy Nelson.
“We’ve played a lot of football together. You realize how important these opportunities are, how they don’t come around every single year. We feel great about our team. Obviously, we feel better with 87 in the lineup. He’s a classy guy and a great teammate.”
Nelson, 31, was drafted by the Packers in the second-round of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Kansas State University. The four-time Pro Bowler was hoping to put an exclamation point on what has been a bounce-back year, or at least it was until the former Wildcat took an illegal hit along the sideline by Giants cornerback Leon Hall.
Nelson was forced to miss the entire 2015 NFL season with a torn ACL. Despite missing an entire season last year, the veteran wide out was able to lead the league in touchdown receptions (14). The 31-year-old also led Green Bay in targets (152), receptions (97) and receiving yards (1,257).
For his career (2008-present), all with the Green Bay Packers, Nelson has 497 catches for 7,366 yards receiving with 63 touchdowns, to go along with 1,429 kick/punt return yards. The second-team All-Pro (2014) was also a member of the Green Bay team that won Super Bowl XLV.
MVP Rodgers
Luckily for the Packers, Aaron Rodgers has been playing on another level, throwing 19 touchdowns to zero interceptions in the last nine games. With that being said, Nelson is without a doubt Rodgers biggest red zone threat. Nelson led the NFL in catches (19) and touchdowns (11) in the red zone.
With Nelson unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys, Rodgers is going to need Randall Cobb (three touchdowns against the Giants) and Devante Adams to step up and help set the tone early. Another receiver that Rodgers will have to lean on is undrafted rookie, Geronimo Allison, who’ll see his snaps increase dramatically. Allison in the last four games has 10 catches for 172 yards and one touchdown.
