The
Green Bay Packers' No. 1 receiver said he felt great after
practicing Wednesday for the first time since having surgery Nov. 1
to repair a torn abdominal muscle. Jennings caught balls and ran
routes in his limited time at practice, then went inside to run and
work on his endurance.
"There
were some routes I was able to push it," he said. "I
pretty much pushed myself to see how much I can take. As far as
speed, I got up to full speed on a few routes. Felt really great. My
wind is horrible right now so I'm trying to get my wind under wraps.
But other than that, I felt great.
"I felt
no pain whatsoever," he added. "It's been a long time
coming since I could say that."
Packers coach
Mike McCarthy said it would be "a stretch" for Jennings to
play Sunday night against the New York Giants, and Jennings won't
put a timetable on his return. But he won't rule himself against the
team that knocked Green Bay out of last year's playoffs, either.
"I don't
feel like I'm a long shot. ... I feel great, the body feels
great," he said. "Today was a big step for me. Whether or
not I'll play this week, that's still yet to be determined. I want
to see how I feel tomorrow and how I respond to what took place
today."
The two-time
Pro Bowler has missed all but three games this season after getting
hurt in the closing minutes of the Sept. 9 opener against San
Francisco. Jennings sat out the next week's game against Chicago,
and returned to play at Seattle on Sept. 24. But he aggravated the
injury against New Orleans, and came out of the Sept. 30 game in the
second quarter after a 9-yard touchdown catch, his first of the
season.
Jennings
initially hoped rest and rehab would be enough to get him back on
the field, but decided to have surgery after the injury failed to
get better.
"I feel
like since I walked in the door for training camp I've kind of been
bumped and bruised and nicked up," Jennings said. "It was
frustrating, going into it initially not knowing what was going on.
But once I had the surgery done and ... (was) able to focus on the
injury and now heal it up and do the things that we can to recover
from it, I feel great. My mental state is great. My physical state
is getting better by the day so I'm excited."
He's not the
only one.
"It's fun
to see him out there even if it's in a walk-through setting,"
Aaron Rodgers said. "Hopefully, we can get him back here pretty
soon."
Jennings has
been Rodgers' favorite target the last few years. He's caught 67 or
more passes in each of the last four seasons, and gone over 1,000
yards receiving in all but one of those years. He finished with 949
yards receiving last year after missing three games with a knee
injury.
He's in the
top 10 in franchise history in catches (401, seventh), yards
receiving (6,249, eighth) and touchdown catches (50, tie for fifth).
The rest of
the Packers have picked up the slack in Jennings' absence, with
Green Bay winning five straight to return to the top of the NFC
North.
"It's fun
to watch when your team is having success. But obviously you want to
be a part of that," Jennings said. "It's been a little
frustrating, but I'm coming around the corner."
