Keisean Nixon, a kick returner and cornerback, was among the players who faced the most criticism during and after the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon. The two-time All-Pro kick returner fumbled the first kickoff, but replays revealed he recovered the ball and received a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play.
Nonetheless, the Eagles received the football and scored a touchdown on the short field. Later in the game, with Green Bay still down, Nixon was called for a personal foul, giving Philadelphia 15 yards. While the Packers may not have won the game, it was again another example of Green Bay’s lack of discipline and self-inflicted mistakes throughout the season.
Keisean Nixon, the Green Bay Packers kick returner, no longer wants to return kicks.
Nixon declared to the media on Monday, as the players were emptying out their lockers and preparing to leave for the offseason, that he no longer wants to be the Packers’ kick returner. “I truly don’t want to do it anymore. There will be meetings with the coaching staff and so on, but I believe it is over for me.”
Nixon, as previously stated, was named First Team All-Pro twice as a kick returner. He led the NFL with 35 kick returns and 1,009 kick return yards in 2022, followed by 30 returns for 782 yards in 2023. However, the NFL altered the kickoff regulation this season. Teams that kick off must now wait for the returner to field the kick before rushing down the field to tackle him. That is, if he returns it at the beginning. Touchbacks increased this year, although real kick returns decreased. Nixon recorded only 18 kickoff returns for 528 yards this season.
Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon has a bigger goal for 2025.
After announcing that he no longer wanted to return kicks, Nixon indicated that he has another profession in mind for the upcoming season: “I want to be CB 1. CB1 isn’t doing kick returns. That’s exactly what it is. It’s worth mentioning that Nixon received an All-Pro vote as a cornerback this season.
While many fans may not consider Nixon to be a top-tier cornerback, he allowed only a 57.5% completion rate and a 78.9 passer rating when targeted. But what many people have missed in this statement is that if Nixon is running for CB1, it implies Jaire Alexander’s time in Green Bay is done.
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