With Little Return History, Nixon Making History for Packers

Keisean Nixon helped deliver a huge advantage in field position for the Green Bay Packers in their victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – You know something’s a big deal when it’s brought up without being asked.

Talking about the Green Bay Packers’ strong start to the second half during Monday night’s 24-12 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, quarterback Aaron Rodgers switched gears to talk about Keisean Nixon.

“I want to highlight this point – I said it in the locker room – because it’s pretty amazing when we’re talking about milestones and Mason (Crosby), his 255th straight game, which is incredible. But in all my 18 years, I’ve never once until tonight seen an opposing team’s kicker kick away from one of our returners. On purpose. That’s fun. That’s pretty incredible.”

Coach Matt LaFleur was asked about Nixon. What he wasn’t asked was why he stuck with Amari Rodgers for so long.

“Keisean definitely has been a difference-maker for us,” LaFleur said. “I think that was pretty evident tonight having multiple big plays on those returns. He plays with the right mentality. He’s going to go for it each and every time. He’s fearless. You guys have seen that over the course of the season. It’s unfortunate. Probably going to get criticized for not playing him early, and that’s fair. We should have had him in there earlier and we didn’t. I don’t think we knew what we had.”

You can’t blame LaFleur for that. While with the Raiders from 2019 through 2021, Nixon returned six kickoffs for a feeble 14.0-yard average. He didn’t return any punts.

In fact, you’d have to go back to the 2016 season at Arizona Western, a junior college, to find a return resume. Against Mesa, he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. He returned nine kickoffs that season. Including South Carolina in 2017 and 2018 and three years with the Raiders, Nixon returned seven kickoffs the past five years. That’s seven more than his career total of punt returns in college and the NFL.

It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention. With Amari Rodgers going nowhere fast, the Packers had to do something. So, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia – who was together with Nixon for three years with the Raiders – put a familiar face into an unfamiliar role. In his one opportunity in Week 6 against the Jets, Nixon had a 32-yard kickoff return.

Who would have guessed that a star was born that day.

Running with more speed than Amari Rodgers and the strength that Rodgers was supposed to possess, Nixon ranks second in the NFL out of 16 qualifying returners (minimum 20 returns) with a 25.4-yard average. Moreover:

- Nixon leads the NFL with three kickoff returns of 50-plus yards.

- Nixon leads the NFL with eight kickoff returns of 30-plus yards.

- Dating to 2000, only Randall Cobb (nine) has more 30-yard returns in a season.

Remember, Nixon has been on the job for only nine games.

Nixon got his first shot on punt returns after Amari Rodgers was benched against Dallas. In five games, he’s got a 15.3-yard average. Five of his six returns have gone for at least 13 yards; Rodgers had three out of his 20 returns this year.

“Big kudos to Rich and his staff and, obviously, Keisean,” Aaron Rodgers said. “He’s been a big difference-maker for us. You hate to do the what-ifs and the lookbacks, but the way certain players were playing for us, you wonder how it would have been had things been a little different starting the season.”

Thanks in part to Nixon, the Packers had an incredible 148-yard advantage in field position against the Rams.

A 19-yard return of the opening punt set the stage for the opening field goal.

Just before halftime, he returned a kickoff 49 yards to the Rams’ 47, though that play was nullified by a bit of a ticky-tack holding penalty on Jonathan Garvin.

In the third quarter, he returned a punt 17 yards and was tackled by the facemask. With the offense set up at the Rams’ 35, Aaron Rodgers fired a touchdown pass to Aaron Jones to make it 24-6.

Late in the third quarter, he returned a kickoff 52 yards to the Rams’ 47. The offense squandered that opportunity.

That’s three explosive returns in one game. That would have been a great month for the last several years.

“That’s just huge,” Jones said. “You’re not having to fight going half of the field. However many plays it takes you to cross the 50, mistakes can happen. You may not even get across the 50. For him to put us in a position – two first downs and you’re already in field goal position. That’s huge vs. going from the 25, two first downs, you’re not in field goal position yet. It’s huge what he’s been doing for us. I’m glad he’s back there returning.”

The Packers signed Nixon to a one-year deal on March 25. It was one of those shrug-of-the-shoulders types of moves made well into free agency, noteworthy only because of his ties to Snoop Dogg. He’ll be a free agent again at the end of the season but looks like a building block given his performance in the slot and as a returner.

“Keisean loves football,” Bisaccia said last week. “He’s very social. I think he enjoys his players, his teammates. I think he works at being a good teammate, and he’s a versatile guy as far as playing around the field. He’s done a lot of different things for us. Obviously, now he’s become a return guy. He’s been a really good coverage guy in the past, and I think he gets better and better with his work with OG [Jerry Gray] and what he’s doing on defense. He’s an ascending player with a great energy and a great passion and love for football.”

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