Packers’ Greg Jennings returns to practice following concussion

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GREEN BAY, Wis. — By Greg Jennings’ math, he has only had two concussions in his life. By the Green Bay Packers’ medical staff’s, he has had three.

Whatever the case, the Packers two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver was just happy to be back on the practice field Sunday after sitting out more than two weeks following a concussion apparently sustained Aug. 3 during the Family Night Scrimmage.

Jennings revealed Sunday that he actually was suffering from headaches after a hit in practice two days before the scrimmage, and that might have been the reason it took him so long to get back on the field.

“I hit my head on the ground, split my nose open,” Jennings said when asked what happened on Family Night. “(But) it probably was a little bit before that on Wednesday, because I started getting headaches Wednesday.

“(I) got hit Wednesday, finished practice. The next day, headaches in practice, didn’t think anything of it. Then Friday (during) Family Night, I probably re-aggravated it. But whatever. I probably make it sound like it was minor, but it really wasn’t — honestly.”

Jennings said he will play Thursday night at Cincinnati in the team’s third preseason game.

“If I’m practicing, I’m playing,” Jennings said. “That’s just mindset I have to take.”

Jennings’ first concussion in the NFL came in an Aug. 28, 2009, preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium when he lost consciousness after being sandwiched between Arizona cornerback Bryant McFadden and safety Aaron Francisco on a 25-yard completion. He stayed on the turf motionless before eventually sitting up and walking the field under his own power, with team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie’s arm around his waist.

Jennings said he doesn’t think he suffered a third concussion and can’t pinpoint when it supposedly occurred.

“In my eyes, that’s the only one (before this),” Jennings said. “I’m like, ’What? I had another one?”’

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said there is no added concern among the medical about Jennings’ long-term or him being prone to concussions because of the extended time it took him to recover.

“Just talking with Greg and the medical staff, obviously the high side of caution is where you go to in these types of situations,” McCarthy said. “He feels very good about where he is and the time that was spent to get him to this point. So I do not have any concerns.”

Jennings, who was chosen for his second straight Pro Bowl last season after catching 67 passes for 949 yards and nine touchdowns despite missing the final three games because of a knee injury, said he spent most of his time away from Lambeau Field at home with wife Nicole and the couple’s three daughters. Nicole Jennings is expecting the couple’s fourth child in October.

“I’ve been shut down completely for two weeks. When I say shut down completely, they wouldn’t let me walk into the weight room. They wouldn’t let me see a treadmill. They wouldn’t let me see anything,” Jennings said of the team’s doctors and trainers. “It’s going to be different for me getting my wind back, but today felt great.”

McCarthy said conditioning would likely be the biggest question mark not only for Jennings but for tight end Jermichael Finley as well. Finley returned to practice Sunday as well after missing the first two preseason games with a quadriceps injury.

Jennings, meanwhile, said his headaches finally cleared Friday.

“It was one of those things that it’s tough because as a player, you don’t have anything physically, that anyone can look at or gauge, ’Is he hurt? Is he not?’ It’s a trust relationship with myself and the trainers,” Jennings said. “As easy as it sounds, being honest when it comes to a situation like that because you want to get back out there, but you don’t want to put yourself in harm’s way.

“It was tough coming in here some days feeling whatever I was feeling and wanting to say, ’You know what, I’m good,’ but knowing in the back of my mind that I really wasn’t. We fought through that for almost two weeks and now here I am. Back. Ready.”

16:48ET 19-08-12