Longtime Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson defended team doctor Pat McKenzie on Friday after the physician came under fire following criticism from Martellus Bennett.
In a statement shared on Twitter, Nelson backed Dr. McKenzie and his athletic staff, specifically saying he never has felt pressured by them to play.
— Jordy Nelson (@JordyRNelson) November 10, 2017
The statement comes in response to Bennett, who accused Dr. McKenzie of mishandling his shoulder injury and pressuring him to play through it.
Here’s what Bennett said on Instagram Friday (content edited for profanity).
“The Packers examined my shoulder March 10 and cleared it. They even gave me an xray as well. It got worse during the season, specifically against the cowboys so I asked to have it checked and we checked it. After a few days of contemplating to play with it or get surgery, I chose surgery. Now here we are …
“They tried to f— over me. Dr. McKenzie trying to cover his own a–. After trying to persuade me to play thru a major injury and me choosing to get surgery.
“They have access to all my medical records. My shoulder wasn’t where it is now at the beginning of the season. I f—-d it up playing for the @packers.
“Dr. McKenizie didn’t make feel safe and was pushing to play which I thought was weird. Not that he was trying to get me to play thru it but the way he was saying things. I didn’t trust him. So I got 3 other opinions from doctors who all said I need to get it fixed. So I decided to do that. And they decided to waive me with some b——t excuse. Failure disclose.
“Every week we do a body evaluation sheet in the weight and pretty much every week I circled my shoulder. I just kept playing but it got worse.
“During the bye week I got off anti inflammatories to clean my system and could really feel the pain. So I asked to examine it first day back in. And that’s when we found out it was really f—-d up.
“They knew.
“They panicked. Thinking that I was trying to go on IR and be on their books next year. When I mentioned that I would possibly retire. So they tried to f— me before they thought I would f— them. This was all about money.
“All about money. I get it. But don’t lie homie. You knew wtf was up.
“I had intentions of playing all 8 games as I mentioned in the post during the bye week, but found out it was worse than I felt after getting it checked out.
“Now I’m like f— it.
“I chose my health over the ‘team’. They chose money over me.”
Bennett signed a three-year deal with the Packers in the offseason and was waived by the team on Wednesday. The team said he failed to disclose an injury, and there have been reports indicating there will be more drama going forward. As he said, Bennett currently has a shoulder injury, which is reported to be a partially torn rotator cuff. That didn’t stop his former team, the New England Patriots, from claiming him. He even passed his physical.
This certainly will not be the last of this saga.
