Mike McCarthy isn’t sure when Greg Jennings will be back in uniform on game day, but the Green Bay Packers head coach insisted Monday that the team still has room — and a need — for its Pro Bowl receiver.
Jennings has missed the last three games after he aggravated a groin injury early in the Sept. 30 win over the New Orleans Saints. ESPNMilwaukee reported Jennings visited a specialist to have the injury evaluated on Tuesday, and there’s still no timetable for his return.
Since Jennings left the lineup, fellow starter Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Randall Cobb have stood out as a productive trio of wideouts.
Nelson (40 catches for 532 yards and five touchdowns) and Cobb (37 catches for 435 yards and three TDs) rank in the league’s top 10 for receptions.
Jones had a team-record-tying streak of three straight games with two touchdown catches snapped in Green Bay’s 30-20 win at St. Louis on Sunday, but he remains tied for the NFL lead with seven TD receptions.
McCarthy said “the beauty” of the Packers’ deep receiver corps is red-hot quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn’t discriminate and is looking to distribute the football to whoever’s open.
“They give us great flexibility in game planning as far as taking away tendencies of who’s (lined up) in the slot, who’s in the 1 spot and so forth,” McCarthy said. “The route trees are diverse — a guy doesn’t just run three routes and line up in the number 2 position. And, that won’t change.”
As such, Jennings will continue to have a role in the offense when he’s able to return to action again.
When that time comes, however, remains a mystery. McCarthy couldn’t say whether Jennings would be ready for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville at Lambeau Field.
“The plan with Greg just from Day 1 was to try to get as far into the week because with his type of injury — (with) the fatigue (and) going through the testing and him maxing it out — the fatigure part of it we felt sending him out for a bunch of practice was probably not in his best interest for the week he comes back,” McCarthy said. “That’s part of the rehab that we looked at the first time we brought him back (after missing the Week 2 win over Chicago). So, if Greg was to come back this week, he would probably test on Thursday and practice on Friday.”