The Packers held Nelson out of preseason games, so Sunday’s game was his first since the 2015 preseason.
Advertisement
There were no deep balls over the defense. There were no catch-and-run 60-yard gains.
A frustrated Jacksonville Jaguars team felt like it should have finally come through with a victory against an elite quarterback. Sometimes it’s hard to get the first one, especially on the road. He only had 32 yards on Sunday. In his first game of any kind since his torn ACL more than a year ago, Nelson didn’t appear to be on the same page with Rodgers.
“To put it on the D line and say, ‘We just didn’t feel ya …’ I have to take a lot of the blame for that because of what we were trying to do”, Bradley said.
As if the delay-of-game penalty to start the second half wasn’t bad enough – how in the world does a team fail to get off a play on the first snap of the third quarter? – what about a timeout followed immediately by another delay of game in the fourth quarter? It wasn’t anything spectacular. Ramsey was unblocked but took a wide route to Rodgers, who had stepped up in the pocket. Nelson didn’t show his usual big-play ability, but he found the end zone and probably gained some confidence in his surgically repaired right knee.
The Packers have won 15 consecutive regular-season games when Nelson catches a touchdown pass from Rodgers, with the last loss being the 2013 opener at San Francisco.
His 29-yard TD strike to Davante Adams while being dragged to the ground was a thing of beauty on both ends. “I like to try to get to the back of the end zone and find a void and he’s able to find me”.
IVORY HOSPITALIZED: Jaguars running back Chris Ivory could be sidelined another week, a potential problem for a team that averaged 1.8 yards a carry without him.
The Packers needed a big stop on fourth down in the final half-minute to stop the Jaguars from taking the lead and possibly winning the game. There’s a lot of trust that goes on between those two. Better days will be ahead, because Rodgers’ cast of pass-catching characters is as deep as any quarterback in the National Football League has at his disposal.
Even though Aaron Rodgers played like an MVP, he was hardly satisfied with Green Bay’s offensive performance. The other half was doing a pass. With cornerback Jalen Ramsey grabbing Rodgers from behind and defensive tackle Jared Odrick rushing in Rodgers’ face, Rodgers threw a dart to Adams.
“The core exercises in the offseason” enabled Rodgers to make the throw, he said. I know there’s times I thought we did a really nice job on the extended plays, on plays downfield, you know, covering.
“Any time any of our players is in the protocol and dealing with a concussion, it’s a concern”, said Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, per ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky.
Under heavy pressure from the Jacksonville defence – with a pass interference call given against the Jaguars on the play – Adams still managed to make a diving catch for the endzone.
Advertisement
Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson made his return to the field after missing all of the a year ago, and he wowed in his return – which included hauling in career touchdown number 50 – breathing new life back into a passing attack that was stale and stagnant in 2015.
