However far the Green Bay Packers go in 2015, they will be going without leading receiver Jordy Nelson.
Initial reports were that Nelson tore an ACL against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday and an MRI confirmed that he does have a significant knee injury, on Monday.
The Packers haven’t released specifics on the injury, but they have called it significant and they have ruled Nelson out for the entire 2015 season.
That’s terrible news, but not unexpected at this point.
Now the Packers will have to answer the question of how they’ll alter their passing game.
Nelson produced 98 catches, 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2014.
Certainly, the Packers will look more to Randall Cobb, but Cobb plays a lot of his snaps in the slot. The Packers will need someone to pick up the slack for Nelson on the outside.
The first guy in line is second-year receiver Davante Adams. He was already expected to take on a larger role in the offense this season. Now, the Packers will probably be looking for him to put up 80-plus catches and 1,000-plus yards.
We’re not going to rule out the Packers signing another receiver, but we expect them to look for more from youngsters Jeff Janis and Ty Montgomery first.
The next couple weeks will go a long way toward telling the Packers and the rest of us how ready those guys are to contribute.
As they always say, next man up.