Four starters, including Jordy Nelson, injured in Packers-Steelers game

The preseason is too long, and any benefit that is gained getting young players experience or evaluating who will be the 52nd and 53rd players on the regular-season roster is lost when there are injuries.

And there were plenty of key injuries in the Pittsburgh Steelers-Green Bay Packers preseason game on Sunday afternoon, with each team seeing two starters go back to the locker room. And the Packers lost one of their best players, reportedly for the season, with a knee injury.

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Green Bay Packers receiver Jordy Nelson suffered a non-contact injury after making a catch. He made it off the field under his own power but was limping badly. He walked back to the locker room. The Packers announcd in the second half that Nelson had a knee injury. and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said it was a torn ACL. Nelson had 1,519 yards and 13 touchdowns last year.

The Packers also lost starting guard T.J. Lang in the second quarter. He wasn’t limping, but he went down on the field and walked back to the locker room with the athletic training staff. The Packers announced in the second half he was being evaluated for a concussion.

The Steelers took a couple of hits too. Center Maurkice Pouncey had his ankle rolled up on while he was blocking on a run play, and it looked like a painful injury. Pouncey was able to walk off the field but was carted back to the locker room. The cart came back out for Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who is stepping into a bigger role in his second season, also suffered what looked like a bad ankle injury.

Whatever good comes out of this second preseason game for each team, neither one will feel very good about how the afternoon went.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab