Jordy Nelson left Sunday’s playoff win over the New York Giants early.
According to a report, the Green Bay Packers receiver has fractured ribs and shouldn’t be expected to play in the divisional round against the Dallas Cowboys.
#Packers WR Jordy Nelson suffered at least two fractured ribs in the win over #Giants, sources say. Will take an incredible effort to play.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 9, 2017
While Nelson’s injury didn’t seem to slow Aaron Rodgers down at all in the wild card round, this is certainly bad news for Green Bay. Nelson caught 97 passes for 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns during the regular season, leading the team in all three categories.
Even with a healthy Nelson, beating the Cowboys will be a tough task for the Packers. Even with Nelson in the lineup, Dallas handily beat Green Bay when the two team’s played in the regular season.
Additionally, even if the Packers win, fractured ribs may place Nelson’s status for the rest of the playoffs in jeopardy. Following the hit, which you can see here, Nelson had a hard time even moving to the cart to go to the locker room.
If he sits against the Cowboys and Green Bay still wins, Nelson will likely be in better shape for the NFC Championship Game. But the recovery time for fractured ribs is generally more than two weeks. If nothing else, this will at least cast some doubt as to how effective Nelson would be.