Jennings to have surgery to repair groin

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Rest and rehab weren’t enough to get Greg Jennings back on the field.

The Green Bay Packers’ No. 1 receiver will have surgery next Tuesday to repair a torn abdominal muscle that has kept him out for most of the season.

He would not put a timetable on his return, but said recovery from the 20- to 25-minute outpatient procedure is not season-ending.

“Honestly, I’m over being bummed about it. That took place three, four weeks ago,” Jennings said Thursday. “It is what it is. I need to take care of it to 100 percent, and that’s the process I’m taking.”

The two-time Pro Bowler was initially hurt in the closing minutes of the Sept. 9 opener against San Francisco. He sat out the next week’s game against Chicago, and returned to play at Seattle on Sept. 24. But he aggravated the injury against New Orleans, and came out of the Sept. 30 game in the second quarter after a 9-yard touchdown catch.

Jennings had hoped the injury would heal with treatment and strength work. But he continued to feel pain when he was in the weight room or tried to run, and feared the injury wasn’t improving as he’d hoped. When he felt his groin tighten up as he ran off the field after last weekend’s game in St. Louis, Jennings knew more treatment was needed.

“The trainers have done a great job in the rehabilitation stages to get me to where I am right now,” he said. “But now we have to take it a step further.”

He traveled Wednesday to Philadelphia to see a specialist, Dr. William Meyers.

“The way he described it to me was simply two people pulling on the end of a rope and it starts to fray. The more tugging, the more fraying, which means the more tearing occurs,” Jennings said. “That’s what I have going on.”

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