Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Nelson, one of the top targets for NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, was injured Sunday in a preseason loss at Pittsburgh. The team said Monday only that he suffered a "significant right knee injury" that would cost him the season.

Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said the team had hoped for good news in a re-evaluation of Nelson's injury. Instead, the Packers will be without a playmaker who set career highs in receptions (98) and yards receiving (1,519) in 2014.

There was some hope leading up to Monday's MRI since Nelson was moving around on the sideline and walked to the locker room under his own power after the injury. The team is still only calling it a significant knee injury, however reports surfacing from Sunday said it was an ACL tear.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy almost certainly won't ask any one player to take on the kind of yeoman's work that WR Jordy Nelson gave them, but they've made it clear throughout the offseason that Davante Adams was ready to a step forward even with Nelson in the mix. This spring, McCarthy called him the MVP of the offseason after Rodgers said he has a "humongous upside, and he's starting to reach that upside."

The Packers might look to add a veteran receiver but if not, then Jeff Janis and Ty Montgomery will get increased opportunities. Physically, Janis (at 6-3, 219) most resembles Nelson, but he remains raw. He played in only three games last year as a rookie, although he has three preseason touchdown catches in his career. The rookie Montgomery, a third-round pick, has proven to be a quick study and can probably play on the edge or in the slot. Packers college scout Sam Seale described the 6-foot Montgomery as a bigger Cobb.

"We've got a lot of guys right now fighting for spots, and we're still trying to figure out who's going to be the impact players for us on our team," Aaron Rodgers said. "That could change after this week or that could not. We'll see what happens."

The Packers seem confident in their depth but it remains to be seen how they react to the potential loss of Nelson if the ACL reports prove to be true. The story went on to say in the red zone, they already were preparing for Richard Rodgers to play a bigger role, and the second-year tight end showed his potential in that area of the field with a 21-yard touchdown catch from backup quarterback Scott Tolzien in the second quarter Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers would leave Sunday's game to injury, after being sacked for a safety by James Harrison late in the first quarter. Rodgers sustained a bruise to his right arm. Mike McCarthy said Rodgers would’ve remained in the game had it been the regular season.

“Into the second quarter was the plan. Aaron got hit on the sack but it was nothing that he couldn’t play in the game,” McCarthy said.

The real focus was on the loss of WR Jordy Nelson to an ACL injury, but the Packers were taking no chances with Rodgers. He should have no issues for Week 1 since McCarthy said he would have returned had the game counted in the standings.

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers might have found a new favorite target in the red zone. So far in training camp, the second-year tight end has become a frequent target for Rodgers inside the 20. Combine that with the fact that Andrew Quarless could be suspended to start the season, and Richard Rodgers should get a lot of action.

Rodgers caught 20 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie. We shouldn’t be too quick to write him off as a budding fantasy asset since rookie tight ends rarely make much of a fantasy impact. Andrew Quarless is dealing with a legal issue and may be suspended to start the season, which opens the door for Rodgers to play big snaps. He is reportedly a ‘frequent target’ in the red zone in practice, so it’s possible that he works his way into TE2 numbers in his second season.

Packers WR Davante Adams caught 38 passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns with one 100-yard game as the No. 3 receiver last year. He added a second 100-yard game in the playoffs.

"It's just giving him opportunities," Aaron Rodgers said. "You watch the film last year and he was open a lot on the backside of stuff and it just depended on matchups whether the ball went his way a couple times in a game or 10 times. And when he had the 10 times, the targets, you saw the production he had. It's about matchups in this offense. We had two guys [Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb] who caught more than 90 balls and as teams start to tilt even more to them, Davante's going to get more opportunities."

Adams had his moments during his rookie season, specifically against the Patriots (6-121 on 11 targets) in Week 13 and in the postseason against the Cowboys (7-117-1 on 11 targets). However, he only saw 66 passes come his way since he played alongside target hogs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. Aaron Rodgers has been highly complimentary of Adams this offseason and says he has “humongous upside.” In 20 games from 2012-13, the team’s WR3, James Jones, managed WR3-type numbers (3.7-50.3-.60 on 5.6 targets) with both Cobb and Nelson in the lineup, but that was mainly due to his unusually high TD rate. In 13 games that Cobb and/or Nelson missed, Jones averaged solid WR2 numbers (4.6-58-.46 on 7.3 targets), but his TD rate regressed. We’re bullish on Adams since he has more potential than Jones. The Packers are also without a tight end of Jermichael Finley’s caliber, so there may be more targets available for the team’s third receiver. Owners should expect fantasy WR2 numbers if Cobb or Nelson go down, making the second-year wideout a great handcuff for either player.

Panthers beat writer David Newton thinks QB Cam Newton is capable of an MVP season.

David Newton: It's not so much whether Newton is capable. He didn't win the Heisman Trophy at Auburn or win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at Carolina for a lack of talent. The question is this: Does Newton have the talent around him to become an MVP? Aaron Rodgers didn't win the award last season without having a solid offensive line, top receivers and a running game that takes the pressure off him. Newton needs the same.

The good news, the story points out, is Cam Newton seems to have a talent pool around him now. Wide receivers Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, Corey Brown and Ted Ginn Jr., along with tight end Greg Olsen, give him plenty of capable targets. Jonathan Stewart showed again at the end of last season that, when healthy, he's a top five back. Now, the offensive line is going to be the key. Newton will also have to become a more consistent passer. While the odds may be against him for MVP, he's capable of a solid fantasy season. Newton cracks our top-10 QBs heading into camps, coming in eighth with an ADP of about the seventh round. He's another of the long list of fantasy QBs who will be around during that stage of your draft if you're set on waiting on the position.

RB Eddie Lacy was asked to do a lot more for the Packers in 2014 than he was as a rookie, and he delivered.

He stayed on the field on third downs as a pass protector and receiving outlet for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He was solid in blitz pickup, and he boosted his pass-catching numbers considerably, from 257 yards and no touchdowns in 2013 to 427 yards and four scores last year.

All the while, he improved his per-carry rushing average a full half yard, from 4.1 to 4.6, without missing a single game and never touching the ball fewer than a dozen times per contest.

It’s a heavy workload that isn’t likely to diminish in the upcoming season, but the third-year running back is fine with his extensive every-down responsibilities.

“I don’t feel I have too much on my plate,” Lacy said last week as the offseason program wrapped up. “I really think it’s the perfect amount. You can see the chemistry between me and the offensive line, and me and the quarterback. We’re just all on the same page and we’re rolling.”

Lacy will certainly be a major factor again this season, and the coaching staff has emphasized it wants to get clicking from the get-go this year, the story said. That's something Lacy didn't do last season, thanks in part to a tough, early schedule. But we preached to stay patient with Lacy as his schedule eased. It paid off as he finished in the top-eight in both PPR and standard formats. This year Lacy is ranked third among our running backs heading into drafts, but with an ADP of 1.3, he's actually going before Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch, who we have ahead of him here in late June.

“I would say Davante Adams for someone if, if you want a clear illustration and example of a first-year player taking a jump in his second year, you just saw it here the last four weeks,” Packers HC Mike McCarthy said. “I think he’s been tremendous throughout the OTAs. And he’s got more in front of him, too, so I think that’s what’s exciting. I think Davante has done a great job in the strength and conditioning. He’s been really, really good in practice throughout this deal. Davante, if you wanted me to pick an MVP or an all-star, he would definitely be atop the list.”

Adams had his moments during his rookie season, specifically against the Patriots (6-121 on 11 targets) in Week 13 and in the postseason against the Cowboys (7-117-1 on 11 targets). However, he only saw 66 passes come his way since he played alongside target hogs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. Aaron Rodgers has been highly complimentary of Adams this offseason and says he has “humongous upside.” In 20 games from 2012-13, the team’s WR3, James Jones, managed WR3-type numbers (3.7-50.3-.60 on 5.6 targets) with both Cobb and Nelson in the lineup, but that was mainly due to his unusually high TD rate. In 13 games that Cobb and/or Nelson missed, Jones averaged solid WR2 numbers (4.6-58-.46 on 7.3 targets), but his TD rate regressed. We’re bullish on Adams since he has more potential than Jones. The Packers are also without a tight end of Jermichael Finley’s caliber, so there may be more targets available for the team’s third receiver. Owners should expect fantasy WR2 numbers if Cobb or Nelson go down, making the second-year wideout a great handcuff for either player.