The initial fear caused by a non-contact injury to Jordy Nelson on Sunday night would scare any fan.

Everyone remembers the nightmare of the non-contact preseason injury in 2015 where a routine play that turned into a season-ending ACL tear.

Fortunately, that is not the case here.

The play on which Nelson exited was non-contact, but he was already injured on the play before when he collided with the cornerback and took a knee to the quadriceps (front thigh) muscle.


He was seen stretching on the sideline.

Typically, players that can return to play do so rather quickly. It is common to utilize heat, stretching, exercise bike and a wrap for an inured quad. When Nelson didn’t return early and didn’t return for the first series after halftime, it became clear he will not return.

The key here will be preventing swelling and maintaining flexibility overnight, most importantly on the Packers’ flight home.He will need to ice the area, provide compression and passively stretch the quad constantly to prevent swelling and tightness.

If he arrives to the Packers’ facility tomorrow able to bring his heel to his rear and walk without a limp, he will have a chance to play next week. If not, he could be out for a couple of weeks.


The Packers seem to have saved him from more harm by not returning him to the lopsided game.

With good medical care, he will be limited in practice but ready next week or soon thereafter.

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