The Packers didn’t just lose their best wide receiver last year when Jordy Nelson tore his ACL — they lost large chunks of the playbook.
And getting back those plays will be as important as the player, according to quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
While it’s a fine distinction, Rodgers said that not being able to call a game normally had a larger impact on the Packers offense, which looked sluggish at times last year, or at least by their own standards.
“No, it didn’t surprise me,” Rodgers said, via Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. “The thing that he does is, we have specific packages for him that just, we didn’t have a guy who could fill those packages. And it was a lot of play-action stuff, where we’re taking eight-man protection and taking shots down the field. And we didn’t have a guy who could take that spot.”
The last time they were healthy together, in 2014, Nelson caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns and Rodgers won a second MVP award.
Nelson is still on the physically unable to perform list, after a problem with the other knee before training camp began. He termed it a hiccup, and there’s a confidence that he’ll be ready in a reasonable amount of time.
Nobody will be happier than Rodgers, getting that downfield target back. His 7.1 yards per pass attempt in 2015 were a career-low, and with running back Eddie Lacy looking sluggish for different reasons last year, it set the entire offense back.
“It’s an excuse, but it’s the truth,” Rodgers said. “The truth is we lost a stud receiver who put up incredible, All-Pro numbers one year and he’s gone the next year without getting that production back. We knew you can’t replace a Jordy Nelson. But we thought that supplementally, we would [compensate].
“I thought that collectively we were going to be able to fill some of that void. But again, the stuff that he does is tough to teach, and that’s why he’s one of the best in the business. I’m proud of the way that we battled, but we all didn’t play as well as we wanted to and we didn’t get it done.”
Finishing 23rd in total offense might not be disastrous for some teams, but the Packers hadn’t been that low since 1991 — before two guys named Brett Favre and eventually Rodgers would arrive to keep them at a high level.