PALM BEACH, Fla. – Even if Nick Collins gets medical clearance to resume his football career when he has his neck reexamined later this week, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of the three-time Pro Bowl safety returning to the football field.

McCarthy, speaking at the annual NFL Meetings at The Breakers Sunday, said that Collins received encouraging news at his last exam and could be cleared when he is re-checked later in the week. Collins’ agent, Alan Herman, said last week that his client would see Dr. Frank Camissa, who performed the single-spinal fusion surgery following Collins’ injury at Carolina on Sept 18, at the end of the week. Packers team physician Dr. Patrick McKenzie will also be involved in the evaluation.

“I’ll tell you what Dr. Pat McKenzie told me: It’s something they feel very good about based on the last exam, and if he has a good chance just the way he’s progressing … but you don’t know,” McCarthy said. “(McKenzie) said it’s either yes or no.”

But when asked what he would say if Collins were his son, McCarthy made his position clear, saying, “If Nick was my son, I would not let him play.”

Collins was injured when he attempted to make a tackle on Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart and jammed his neck on the back of Stewart’s thigh. The hit in no way seemed particularly violent, but Collins did not get up from it.

“That’s probably one of the worst parts of your job (as a coach), walking out on the field, looking over a player – especially when it didn’t look very serious, and then you get out there …” McCarthy said, his voice trailing off. “I don’t want to be put in that position again. And this is not about me. I’m just talking about, if that was my son, If Nick was my son, I would not let him play.”

That said, McCarthy said the decision the doctors make will be in Collins’ best interest and the Packers will not put him at risk.

“Dr. Pat McKenzie and our medical staff, they’re conservative by nature. I think if you ask anybody who’s gone through our program and worked in other places, they’d say, ‘Hey, they do a good job taking care of their players. They’re conservative,’” McCarthy said. “”We’re not going to put him in harm’s way. If he’s on the field, he’ll be cleared, he’ll be 100 percent and everybody will be comfortable with it.”

Jason Wilde  wrote:

To be honest I think people are over reacting to this surgery, Peyton Manning has had it done. But the best example was John Lynch had it done and he played like 7 more years and he was by far a more violent hitter than Collins. I think Collins will be back and just fine

Originally Posted by: dhazer 

Did Lynch really have this same issue? I can't remember. If so, that's definitely interesting. As for Peyton Manning, I won't believe much of anything until I see him getting through at least a couple of games after taking some hits.

Originally Posted by: doddpower 

Marshawn Lynch had a bulging disc, but it was lower in his back. Don't think he had the surgery either.

My dad actually fractured his spine, and didn't miss a day of work for an entire week. He worked for City of Green Bay sanitation, then also had a recycling business where he worked nights. LOL. So he didn't miss work in either job for an entire week, until the next Friday. Him and my mom were in bed and his body started going into shock, so she 911'd him. (Lord only knows what they were doing.) Turned out his back was broken. He was afraid of the example it would set to us if he took a day off work. Pretty soon we'd ALL be out there breaking our backs, so that we could have time off!

Originally Posted by: nerdmann 

He meant John Lynch. You know, the guy who played the same position as Nick Collins and was "by far a more violent hitter."

Originally Posted by: gbguy20 

He meant John Lynch. You know, the guy who played the same position as Nick Collins and was "by far a more violent hitter."

Originally Posted by: gbguy20