GREEN BAY – Jordy Nelson has been around long enough to know not to get too high or too low based on one game.
While no one is sugar-coating what went wrong in the Packers' 23-0 loss to Baltimore, the 10th-year receiver and the rest of the offense were looking to turn the page as the team began preparations for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.
Five key turnovers and only five conversions on 17 third- and fourth-down attempts hampered the offense versus the Ravens, but there were positives the Packers took away after dissecting the film.
A week after finding their offensive rhythm in a 23-16 win in Chicago, the Packers again shot out to a fast start on the opening series and out-produced Baltimore 265-219 in total yards for the game. Fourth-year receiver Davante Adams put up a season-high 126 receiving yards on eight receptions to lead Green Bay.
The difference in the game were miscues, which is what the offense is working to limit with the Steelers' fourth-ranked defense now on deck.
"There's good and bad in every film, win or lose," Nelson said. "You take the good and try to grow on that and you take the bad and you improve on it and learn where you can get better. I think a lot of it's just the consistency, to be honest with you."
As stressed as the Packers have been at some positions this year, the Packers' receiving corps has been relatively healthy all year behind Nelson, Adams and Randall Cobb.
Nelson got things started this season with six touchdowns through the first five games of the season. That total remains tied for fourth in the NFL despite Nelson not adding to that total over the last five contests.
Cobb is averaging nearly six touches per game since the Packers' Week 8 bye, with many crediting Cobb's 38-yard catch on the opening series against Chicago as the play responsible for sparking the offense in its fast start two weeks ago.
And then there's Adams, the fourth-year receiver who leads the Packers in receptions (50) and receiving yards (620), and is tied for touchdowns with Nelson (six), in 10 starts this season.
"He's continued to work at it," Nelson said of his receiving mate. "His consistency, week-in and week-out, and being able to make the big plays, making the most of his opportunities, is key, and just continuing to grow. I think he's learned a lot now in 3½ years. I think you can see it all slowing down for him and working for him all in one."
Nelson moved into third place all-time in team history for receptions with his 531st catch during the first quarter against the Ravens, surpassing James Lofton and trailing only Donald Driver (734) and Sterling Sharpe (595) in the franchise annals.
The former Pro Bowler has only nine catches for 79 yards in the Packers' last three games, but he isn't complaining. The passes will come, Nelson says. The thing he doesn't want is backup quarterback Brett Hundley pressing to get him the ball.
"It's just sometimes the way it goes as a receiver," Nelson said. "I'm not worried about it. I don't think he is (and) I don't want him to feel like he needs to try to get me the ball or anything. He just needs to continue doing what he's doing, go through his read, his progression, do what the coaches are teaching him to do, and we'll be able to execute."
The Packers will look to turn things around against the Steelers, who are coming off a small break after trouncing Tennessee 40-17 last Thursday. Pittsburgh's defense picked off Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota four times in the victory.
Disappointed but not dejected, Nelson and the rest of the Packers' offensive playmakers know the only way to bounce back from Sunday's shutout is to keep working at it.
"It's not one thing that's causing our problems or else we'd have it fixed," Nelson said. "It's everyone continuing to grind at it and get better and go out and play to the best of their ability."
