AP

The Packers offense hasn’t been the same without Jordy Nelson, but Jordy Nelson doesn’t think the absence of Jordy Nelson is the reason.

The injured wide receiver downplayed any role he might have in the current slump.

“I think that’s the easy thing to say now,” Nelson said, via Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. “What’s the big difference between this year and last year? Yeah, I guess I would be the one missing piece from last year. But I think every year is still different.”

While it seems obvious that taking a guy who caught 98 passes for 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns out of the mix would be a problem, the Packers have developed a reputation as an organization able to fix such problems on the fly by promoting the next Jordy Nelson.

But since he tore his ACL in August, the Packers haven’t resembled the kind of offense we’re used to seeing (23rd in the league in passing offense), making him perhaps a bigger reason for the decline than he wants to believe.

“I don’t think that’s what’s going on,” Nelson said. “I think guys aren’t making the plays they’re able to make. When you look at the Minnesota game, guys made plays and they put up 30 points against one of the top defenses in the NFC. Then the next game, they don’t make the plays and we struggle.”

There have been moments of competence, including a 6-0 start before a five-game skid in which that Vikings win was the only one. But for the most part, things have been off all year.

Nelson employed the traditional “can only worry about what I can control” defense, and said everything’s on track for him to be ready to return for training camp next year.

And the longer the season goes, it’s becoming more and more clear that it might take until then to fix things.