GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For Greg Jennings, being able to run again was nice.
What happened Wednesday was a much bigger step in his recovery.
For the first time since injuring his knee last month, Jennings was able to run routes against the Green Bay Packers' defense in practice -- an indication that the Pro Bowl wide receiver is on track to return for the playoffs.
"Running out there, running routes on air (by yourself), anybody can do that," Jennings said. "When you have a guy leaning on you and trying to jam you and reacting to it, you're kind of going to instinctively react, instead of strategically going about something. And that was huge for me to know that I can just react and respond to a guy up in my face and be able to still beat the jam and try to kick it into another gear when the ball's in the air."
Jennings tore his left medial collateral ligament during the Packers' Dec. 11 victory over the Oakland Raiders, and he sat out the final three games of the regular season.
"Right now, my knee is as stable as it's going to be, and it's been as stable as it's going to get for the last two weeks now," Jennings said. "So I've pretty much been cleared to do most things that we need to do as a receiver to perform at a high level. From a couple weeks ago, like I said, it was just all mental -- just making sure that I trust my knee, to know that it's not going to tear again."
The Packers generally are healthier than they were at this time last season, when they had several key players on injured reserve. Jennings, right tackle Bryan Bulaga and wide receiver Randall Cobb practiced Wednesday after sitting out Sunday's season finale against the Detroit Lions.
Running back James Starks didn't participate in the portion of practice open to the media, and there was one unexpected absence Wednesday: center Scott Wells. The Packers will not issue an injury report until next week, and McCarthy wasn't willing to discuss Wells' health.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
