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The hobbled Green Bay Packers' receiving corps took another hit on Wednesday after Jordy Nelson injured his hamstring in practice.
Nelson had been the Packers' leading receiver this season, especially in recent weeks with the injury to Greg Jennings. He is now questionable heading into Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Whether or not he will play remains to be seen, but the Packers should seriously think about sitting Nelson in this one.
Aaron Rodgers has been resilient enough to handle losses in his receiving corps before. He has not missed a beat without Greg Jennings this season, and he performed well without Jermichael Finley last season.
In fact, Rodgers has a 12:1 touchdown to interception ratio in the past three weeks, his three games without Greg Jennings.
Rodgers can excel without any individual player because the Packers have such a deep arsenal of weapons. Jordy Nelson stepped up in a big way after Jennings' injury, but James Jones and Randall Cobb have also made a major impact.
Cobb has accumulated 273 yards and three touchdowns in the past three weeks, showing that he can dominate secondaries when given the opportunity. Meanwhile, James Jones has racked up seven touchdowns this season, with four in the last three weeks.
Jones and Cobb alone are enough to challenge most secondaries, but Jermichael Finley also possess game-breaking talent. He hasn't developed much chemistry with Rodgers, but he could be in line for increased looks with Jennings sidelined and Nelson hobbled.
With this level of talent in the receiving corps, the Packers should be more than able to handle the mediocre Jaguars' secondary without Nelson.
Further, hamstring injuries tend to last, so healing up Nelson should be a top priority.
For an example of what a hamstring injury can do to a player, look no further than Andre Johnson last season. Johnson missed weeks due to a strained hamstring, and even upon coming back, he wasn't completely confident in it, as this ESPN article illustrates.
The Packers will need Nelson more down the road than they will now, and his healing process could be just as tedious as Johnson's was. The Packers have the weapons to afford Nelson some time to heal up. They should take advantage of it.
If they don't sit Nelson, expectations for him should still be low. He won't have the same burst and the Packers will have better, more explosive options in Cobb and Jones.
Further, this game has blowout written all over it. If the Packers jump out to a big lead against the Jaguars, there will be no reason to keep Nelson in the game. Accordingly, his upside is limited.
There is always a chance that Nelson takes advantage of a porous secondary to go off for a big game, but he's not worth the gamble this week. If you have a better option, use it.
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