In a post-Jordy Nelson world, the Green Bay Packers are looking for someone to fill the void left by their sidelined big-name wideout.
As predicted, third-rounder Ty Montgomery appears to be the guy.
On the first snap of Tuesday's practice, the offense lined up in a three-receiver set with Randall Cobb wedged in the slot between Davante Adams and Montgomery out wide, according to ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky.
That lines up with what the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel projected Monday after the team announced that Nelson will miss the remainder of the 2015 season with a significant right knee injury.
Future practice time and game snaps will sort this out, but Montgomery holds the early lead over Jeff Janis, the second-year target still seen as a project despite his Nelson-like measurements. (Nelson is listed at 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds, while Janis measures in at 6-foot-3 and 219 pounds.)
Montgomery is three inches shorter but drew comparisons before the draft to a pre-collapse Cordarrelle Patterson. While Janis has battled inconsistency and "wasn't able to sustain his momentum" during training camp, Nelson praised Montgomery's work ethic over the summer, saying, per ESPN.com: "Taking away the athletic part of it, just his approach to understanding our playbook, asking questions, trying to be detailed as much as possible in a short amount of time."
Working outside, Montgomery made some noise right away on Tuesday:
The real work, though, comes in game action, turning Saturday night's tiff with the Eagles into a fascinating preseason watch. We still have faith in Green Bay as a playoff team, but their first big challenge of the season won't be easy to overcome.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast discusses Jordy Nelson's knee injury and gives its winners and losers from Week 2 of the preseason.
