GREEN BAY — Not only does it look like wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb will be ready for the Sept. 8 opener at San Francisco, but the Green Bay Packers' two top wide receivers may even participate in Thursday night's preseason finale at Kansas City.

That said, both believe it will be even more valuable to take part in practice this week, since the starters aren't expected to see much action against the Chiefs.

"You're going to get more reps in practice, you're going to get more looks in practice, you're going to get more balls in practice," Nelson said. "That, to me, is the more important thing than going to Kansas City and getting three, five plays or whatever it might be.

"If it was a regular-season game and stuff, we definitely could be going. But we've still got to be smart and see what happens."

Nelson underwent a nerve-release procedure on his knee on Aug. 6 and has been sidelined since. Cobb has dealt with a biceps injury throughout training camp and has been limited since Aug. 13, when he pushed through a full practice despite being in obvious pain with the injury.

Nelson and Cobb suited up for practice but didn't do a ton of work, although they did catch passes from quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

"We feel good. And we'll keep working at it," Nelson said after Sunday's practice, which was essentially an extended jogthrough in shorts and helmets. "We didn't do much today, so with Randall and I not practicing last week, for me a couple weeks, and not doing much today, we didn't want to lose a day of conditioning. So we just figured we'd get some extra work in and (Rodgers) wanted to throw some balls, so we did."

The Packers are scheduled to practice in pads Monday and Tuesday.

"I think it's just getting back into the groove of things, getting back into competition, competing with my teammates and going up against an actual body and not doing things on air," Cobb said. "I'm playing free-minded. I'm not going to have any worries whenever I do play, I'm going to make sure I'm at a level where I can go out and compete and perform and not have any worries about anything with my body."

Cobb, who led the Packers in receptions (80) and receiving yards (954) last year in his second NFL season, said he needs the work because he's not a veteran player who can get away with missing so much time and then be ready for regular-season play.

"I'm still a young guy, I'm still trying to get better. So I don't think I can ever be at a place in my career where missing time is OK," Cobb said. "Maybe later on when my body is hurting a lot and I'm getting older in age, but I'm a young guy and I've got a lot of things to work on and a lot of growing to do."

Cobb said the team will work on punt and kickoff returns in practice Monday and that he will get some turns there. Whether he's the Packers' returner against the 49ers is still up in the air, though, as the coaches try to find a suitable replacement so he can focus on the offense.

"You still have to go out there and ride that bike to stay in that groove. So getting back there and returning some balls is going to be important to, just making sure I'm staying on top of my fundamentals," Cobb said. "We know what we're trying to do, it's just important for all of us to do our part."

Jason Wilde  wrote: