After tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last year in a preseason game in Pittsburgh, Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson missed the entire 2015 season and spent a majority of the following offseason rehabbing in hopes that he could be ready to play in time for the inaugural game of the season in Jacksonville.

He didn't play a single snap in the 2016 preseason, leaving many to question whether or not he would actually be on track to take the field in the aforementioned season-opening contest.

Five months later, he's crowned as the league's Comeback Player of the Year.

In a scorching EverBank Field, Nelson caught his first of what would go on to be 14 receiving touchdowns. A number that would lead the league by the culmination of the season.

Through the course of the season, Nelson helped open the aerial attack in Green Bay with the intention of realigning the offense with what was seen in 2014 — quarterback Aaron Rodgers' second MVP campaign. After a sub-optimal 2015 season without Nelson at the helm of the receiving corps, the team's offense evidently struggled in what would go on to be one of the worst offensive seasons seen in Green Bay since 2005. 

Nelson not only spread the field for the passing game, but he became the team's leading and most efficient red zone target. 

He saw 28.23 percent of targets in the red zone, including 21 catches for 12 touchdowns, leading the team in both categories. His 14 touchdowns on the season were his most since 2011, but the personal accolades for Nelson don't end there. 

Nelson saw 152 targets, the most of his career a year removed from surgery to repair his ACL. The expectations were looming, but supported on Nelson's shoulders through the duration of the season, including during the team's six-game regular season win streak in which Nelson recorded six receiving touchdowns. To go along with his influx of targets, he had just two registered drops, tying his personal best of fewest in a season. His 1.3 drop percentage — also the lowest of his career —  was tied for the second-lowest amongst receivers with more than 90 catches in 2016.

While the season reached a dismal conclusion in Atlanta just four quarters away from a Super Bowl, Nelson played through two broken ribs sustained in the Wild Card win over the Giants. After recovering for two weeks, Nelson was still the Packers' leading receiver in the losing effort, tallying six receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Nelson is the first Packers player to win the award, although, it's worth noting that former Packers receiver Robert Brooks won the Pro Football Writers of America Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1997 a season following an ACL and patellar tendon tear. The same award that Nelson won in January.