Packers: Greg Jennings seeks second opinion about groin injury

Pakcers WR Greg Jennings is seeking a second opinion from a specialist about his ailing groin. (US Presswire)

The waiting game continues for injured WR Greg Jennings, but to make things worse, now there's some uncertainty, too.

For the past few weeks, Jennings has been nursing a troublesome groin injury that he sustained in the Packers' season opener. He sat out the next game, came back prematurely and re-aggravated it against the Saints in Week 4. Since then, he's been sidelined, intent on resting and rehabbing the injury until he's 100-percent healthy.

But it appears, after the third idle week in a row, Jennings has become nervous that the injury could be worse than he believed or, at least, not improving as much as he'd hoped.

Coach Mike McCarthy confirmed Wednesday that Jennings had indeed sought a second opinion on his ailing groin on why it was taking so long to heal. That's not an uncommon practice, and the team pays for the visit. McCarthy said that “we're still gathering information on Greg's injury. That's where we stand today.”

When asked if Jennings had gone to see a specialist on Tuesday because he was concerned about the progress of his rehabilitation, McCarthy responded, “Correct.”

Jennings wasn't available to the media on Wednesday, but fellow WR James Jones indicated that Jennings still wasn't sure what his injury was.

When asked if he was concerned, Jones said, “I just want him to figure out exactly what it is. You don't want to be trying to come back on an injury, or be out there running and testing on it, when you don't exactly know what you have.

“Hopefully he can go out there and find out exactly what he has, and they'll be able to treat it and we can get him back sooner rather than later.”

On Monday, McCarthy said his hope was to have Jennings on the practice field on Thursday or Friday to see if he would be able to play in Sunday's game against the Jaguars.

"The plan with Greg just from Day 1 was to try to get as far into the week because with his type of injury, the fatigue, going through the testing and him maxing it out," McCarthy said the day after the Packers' victory over the Rams. "The fatigue 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."
The trip to the specialist seems to put in doubt any chance Jennings has of coming back this week.

On Wednesday, QB Aaron Rodgers, whose passing offense has put together its best two games the past two weeks without Jennings, said he knew the seventh-year wideout, a free-agent-to-be, desperately wanted to return to action.

"I can't speak for Greg. I haven't seen him yet today," Rodgers said. "We want him to come back as quickly as he can, but he's got to do what's best for his body. I know his toughness and how badly he wants to be on the field. If he can't be out there, you know it's got to be something significant."

Jones said he empathized with Jennings' situation and emphasized that he needs to rest and rehab the injury until it is fully healed. Otherwise, he will continue to take one step forward, two steps back in the recovery process.

"I just talk to him about understanding what he's going through, because I went through the same thing a couple of years ago with my knee," Jones said. "Practice on it all week and then fall on it in a game and then I can't even get up and run. Then you've got to sit out the next week.

"It's frustrating; you want to play, you want to be out there. You don't want to be hurt, especially if you rested for three weeks."

The Packers' next two games are against the Jaguars (1-5), who will be without their best offensive player, RB Maurice Jones-Drew, and the Cardinals (4-3), who have lost their last three games and are starting backup QB John Skelton.

After that, the Packers (4-3) have their Week 10 bye. Since they may not need Jennings for the next two games, it's conceivable the team could keep him sidelined until after the bye, to give him extended rest and rehab time.

Follow Packers reporter James Carlton on Twitter: @CBSPackers and @jimmycarlton88.