By Jason Wilde
Channel3000.com's Packer Insider from ESPN Madison

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The last time Jordy Nelson was seen returning a kick for the Green Bay Packers in a game that meant something, he was fumbling a late second-quarter kickoff in the NFC Wild Card playoffs against the Arizona Cardinals.

While the Packers didn’t lose the ball, Nelson did lose the job: The next time the Cardinals kicked off, it was cornerback Tramon Williams on the return. Nelson continued to serve as the punt returner – although the score-at-will Cardinals’ only punt went out of bounds anyway.

When the Packers get back to playing games that matter with Sunday’s regular-season opener at Philadelphia, it’ll be Nelson on kickoff returns and Williams on punt returns. Coach Mike McCarthy also mentioned No. 2 running back Brandon Jackson as a kickoff return possibility and – gasp! – No. 1 wide receiver Greg Jennings as an option on punt returns, although Nelson and Williams said in the locker room after Monday’s practice that they were the choices.

“I think our options are clear,” McCarthy said after returner Will Blackmon was let go as part of an injury settlement during Saturday’s final roster reduction to 53 players. “I feel good about Jordy Nelson and Brandon Jackson in the kickoff return and I feel good about Tramon Williams and Greg Jennings in the punt return, if that is the direction we go.

“We’re going to compete on special teams and we’re going to give our football team the opportunity to play with good field position. All of the work that we have done in the offseason in training camp, it’s about putting the returner in a position to be successful. We’ll make sure we have the best guy back there with the football.”

When asked if he takes into account how important a player such as Jennings or Williams, a starter at corner, is on offense or defense when choosing a returner, McCarthy said he does.

“You factor all that in. I think that’s common knowledge,” McCarthy said. “I also have a history that I can look back on, on how I’ve approached the game as far as special teams – who’s the returner, who’s not – from’06, ’07, ’08 and ’09. I think some of the decisions I made in ’07 were probably the most aggressive decisions from a personnel standpoint, and that was the healthiest team I’ve coached.

“Does that play hand in hand? Who has the answers to those questions? But we’re going to line up, and we’re going to line up to win football games, and I’m talking about all three phases. So we’re going to have the best returner possible back there.”

In 2007, when the Packers reached the NFC Championship Game, McCarthy used Charles Woodson as his primary punt returner and Williams, then the No. 3 cornerback in the nickel defense, as the primary kickoff returner.

Nevertheless, using Williams as a punt returner given the Packers’ lack of depth at cornerback would seem to be risky. Williams is starting opposite Woodson with two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Al Harris opening the season on the physically unable to perform list, and with rookie Sam Shields, second-year man Brandon Underwood, third-year player Pat Lee and special-teams player Jarrett Bush as the other four cornerbacks on the depth chart, losing Williams would be potentially crippling to the defense. Underwood did not practice Monday because of a shoulder injury.

“You just play, man,” Williams said when asked about the injury risk of returning punts. “I’ve never been the type of guy who takes a conservative way out. In my book, that’s the way people get hurt, trying to be safe. Just go out there and just play. I’m a punt returner, also. I’ve done it.

“Get the ball, protect the ball — we’ve got an offense that can get the job done. I don’t think it’s a lot on my plate. It’s not a problem. I’m ready for it.”

Williams returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown against Carolina during the 2007 season, and for his career, he has averaged 13.3 yards on 19 returns. Nelson, meanwhile, averaged just 5.3 yards on 17 punt returns last year after Blackmon’s season-ending knee injury Oct. 5 at Minnesota.

Nelson has had more success as a kickoff returner, averaging 23.4 yards on 36 returns over the past two years. He averaged 25.4 yards per return on 25 kickoffs last season, numbers that would have been considerably higher had his 99-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff against Detroit on Oct. 18 not been nullified by a holding penalty on Evan Dietrich-Smith.

“I’ve only done kickoff returns for two years, and it’s been the two years here. I never did it in college, never did it in high school. So I’m still learning,” Nelson said. “I had the two fumbles last year that are unacceptable, but besides that, I think I did a solid job. I think the one against Detroit that I returned for a touchdown and got called back, if that one would’ve stood as a touchdown, I think the stats would have looked different. It just takes the one big play and it changes a lot.”

Nelson suffered a knee injury when he muffed a punt later in that game and missed the next three weeks, an injury McCarthy said affected Nelson’s effectiveness late in the year.

“I don’t see that anymore. I think he was a little hesitant in that (Arizona playoff) game,” McCarthy said. “But I think he’s done a very good job, and we’ve changed some things schematically in our return game that I think play to Jordy’s strengths.”

In preseason, Nelson averaged 29.6 yards on three kickoff returns, including a 36-yarder against Indianapolis Aug. 26.

“I look forward to it,” Nelson said. “I had a feeling it could come down to that, with Will’s situation and everything, so I was prepared.

“We’re ready to move forward with the guys we’ve got. It’s on us. There’s no one else to do it. It’s on us to get it done. It’s going to be a big part of this season. Whether we go a long ways or not is going to depend on special teams.”