The Green Bay Packers, who have not yet gathered for player workouts, might be preparing an offseason program as the lockout drags on. If and when that happens, wide receiver Jordy Nelson and linebacker Nick Barnett say they are healed, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week.
Nelson had 21 postseason receptions, and in Super Bowl XLV contributed nine receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown -- despite suffering a torn bursa sac during the game.
Leader of the Pack
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"I pretty much just popped a bubble full of fluid and it swelled up really bad," he said during the Greg Jennings Celebrity Golf Tournament on Thursday. "It's been fine. It was just a matter of time for the body to absorb all the swelling."
Nelson said he is able to lift weights, run and work out. He also admitted it was good to see his teammates.
"It's like a class reunion, like we won the Super Bowl five years ago and we're seeing each other for the first time," he said. "I haven't seen mostly any of these guys, for the most part, since the Super Bowl."
Barnett, who is just 10 tackles away from John Anderson's team record, told the *Journal Sentinel* that he has been fully recovered "for some time now" from a wrist injury that ended his season in October.
"I've been working out, staying in shape and with no minicamps, you have to do that much more so you're in shape when it starts," he said. I'm ready to go when it happens."
Barnett, who admitted in April that "there's a lot of uncertainty," is under contract with the Packers for two more seasons with a base salary of $12.4 million, but NFL.com's Steve Wyche reported in May that Barnett could be traded or let go.
He did say he was looking forward to Thursday's private ring ceremony at Lambeau Field.
"That's what you play for -- the championship," he said. "It's going to be exciting to go to the ring ceremony and see all the guys and how excited they are to see the ring and everything."
Also uncertain is the status of 11-year veteran Mark Tauscher, who injured his shoulder blocking an extra point during a Week 4 victory over the Detroit Lions and was put on injured reserve in November. He told the Journal Sentinel he has regained strength, but when asked if he would return next season, said he did not know.
"I feel good. I really do. The rehab is going well, my shoulder is feeling a lot better," the 33-year-old Tauscher said Friday. "I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do yet. When the lockout ends I'm sure I'll get things figured out, one way or another, and see where we're at."
Tauscher has started 132 games for Green Bay.
