Packers' Neal says he'll be back '100 percent' from knee injury

Packers defensive end Mike Neal, out since injuring his left knee in a non-contact drill on Aug. 16, surfaced in Green Bay's locker room Thursday for the first time since his Sept. 13 surgery and said he hopes to return by the team's bye week on Oct. 30.

"That's my target,"Neal told Neal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Thursday. "But the doctor told me that one week it could feel good, another week it could feel bad. You just don't know. My target is four-five weeks and just go from there."

"They saw that some cartilage had chipped out in my knee," Neal said. "They had to remove it. That cartilage is what was keeping my knee swollen and giving me the pain I was having. So they removed it and shaved down that part. Now, it's just about getting the fluid out."

Neal, in his second season in the NFL, said he would not be going on injured reserve, and he doesn't plan to wear a brace when he comes back.

"No limitations," he said. "When I come back, I'm coming back 100 percent. I don't want to give anybody a reason to doubt that I can't go 100 percent."