Offseason hip surgery kept him out during the spring and summer in 2015, before his knee injury, and general manager Ted Thompson and the team’s medical staff took a decidedly cautious approach with him last year, holding him out of OTAs — he played a little pitch-and-catch with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but not much else — and keeping him on the sideline for the first half of training camp. When he did get the go-ahead to start practicing, the Packers made sure he never saw the field in preseason games.

“It’s really fun to have him here at this time (of the year),” Getsy said. “He’s a guy who attacks everything the right way all the time. … I’m very excited to see what he can do this year, and I’m sure it’s going to be great stuff and he’s going to help us win a lot of football games.”

While Nelson was full-go during the first open OTA practice — the Packers have two more open practices, scheduled for next Thursday and June 6, in advance of their June 13-15 minicamp — he said he also is being smart about pushing himself in May, acknowledging the long road ahead.

“When you’re at practice, you go full speed. There’s no half-speed out there, especially as receivers. You’ve got to do that, because you’ve got to work on timing and continue to grow on that,” Nelson said.

“You understand the importance. If there’s a 50-50 ball in the air, you’ve got to be smart on both ends, especially right now — you don’t want something crazy happening. Just get to the spot where you’re prepared for training camp and Week 1.”

Jason Wilde covers the Packers for ESPN Wisconsin. Listen to him with former Packers and Badgers offensive lineman Mark Tauscher weekdays from 9-11 on “Wilde & Tausch” on 100.5 FM ESPN Madison.