Jordy Nelson's much-anticipated return to the field will come later than expected.
NFL Media's Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday from Packers camp that the Green Bay wideout recently tweaked his knee working out, which prompted the team to place him on the PUP list.
Thankfully for Nelson, though, the injury is to his left knee -- not his surgically repaired right one -- leaving the receiver to say: "It's not the ACL. No one needs to freak out."
Said Nelson: "I'm not going into details of stuff. You guys know I don't like to talk about injuries. I've already had to give you more than what I wanted to, to be honest. But we're all on the same page, we're going to be back hopefully -- not worried about it."
Nelson went on to call the setback a mere "hiccup," joking: "I hate the hiccups. They're so annoying, aren't they?"
He doesn't appear alarmed, but any complication for the 31-year-old Nelson is enough to keep Packers fans up at night. Still, it's actually encouraging that the pass-catcher's latest issue has nothing to do with the ACL.
"Obviously I want to be out there and the more practices you have, the better," Nelson said of missing reps with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. "But it's nothing we're panicking about right now. As long as we're on the same page mentally, it'll carry over to the game."
It's not a sunny development for Nelson, but we fully expect him to be ready for the start of the season, which should help this once-explosive offense turn last year's troubles into a memory.
Here are other injuries we're tracking on Tuesday:
- The Indianapolis Colts placed defensive tackle Henry Anderson and tight end Darion Griswold on the PUP list. The Colts also moved safety Clayton Geathers to the non-football injury list.
- Safety Tyrann Mathieu, cornerback Justin Bethel, defensive tackle Frostee Rucker and linebacker Zack Wagenmann were placed on the PUP list, the Arizona Cardinals announced.
- The Cincinnati Bengals put tight end Tyler Eifert, defensive tackle Brandon Thompson and wide receiver James Wright on the PUP list. The Bengals also placed linebacker Rey Maualuga on the non-football injury list.
- Wide receiver Louis Murphy and guard J.R. Sweezy were placed on the Buccaneers' PUP list, the team announced. Tampa Bay also placed safety Elijah Shumate on the non-football injury list.
- Andy Reid told reporters he doesn't think outside linebacker Justin Houston will be available for Chiefs camp: "I don't think that will happen."
- The Cleveland Browns placed defensive back Joe Haden and tight end Seth DeValve on the PUP list. Offensive lineman Conor Boffeli and wide receiver Josh Gordon were added to the Browns' non-football injury list as well.
