Packers need receivers to heal

GREEN BAY, WIS. — The Green Bay Packers may not know the status of injured receivers Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison until just before the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Coach Mike McCarthy said Friday that all three receivers would be "given every chance to play in the game."

The Packers didn't have on-field work Friday, when all three players were listed as questionable on the injury report.

The team may make a decision on the receivers after the final practice of the week Saturday, though McCarthy said that it was possible that one or two players may be pushed back to just before the game Sunday in Atlanta against the Falcons.

Nelson was limited in practice this week as he recovers from broken ribs. He led the NFL with 14 touchdown catches.

Nelson wasn't at Lambeau Field on Friday because of an unrelated illness, McCarthy said. He apparently came down with a bug that bothered kicker Mason Crosby earlier in the week, as well as quarterback Aaron Rodgers later in the week.

"Rest. Fluids. All that stuff. We'll be OK," Rodgers said.

Allison, a rookie, emerged in the last couple of weeks of the regular season with eight catches for 157 yards and a score while filling in when Randall Cobb was hurt. Allison has a hamstring injury.

"It was good to have him out there," McCarthy said of Nelson. "Really today was the most important day for those three [receivers], so really the information that comes out of the training room will give us a better idea where we are."

The Packers are left with Cobb, along with third-year player Jeff Janis and rookie Trevor Davis at receiver.

Janis and Davis each had their first regular-season touchdown catches during the teams' meeting in the regular season in October, when Cobb missed the game because of an ankle injury and then-receiver Ty Montgomery sat out because of illness.

Safety Morgan Burnett (quad) and cornerback Quinten Rollins (neck/concussion) were also listed as questionable.

"There's a little bit of a gap there," McCarthy said. "I would say, Geronimo for instance, we've never been through this with him, so we have no injury history with Geronimo. So, he's going to have to prove himself at a higher level than say, Jordy, because there's history there and we know what he's capable of doing.

"Same with Morgan. You just have to work through that."