Jacksonville selected Nelson in the first round of the 2007 draft with the 21st overall pick, but the Jaguars traded him to the Bengals a few days before the 2010 season.
Nelson has played in 71 of 74 games for Cincinnati since, including victories at Jacksonville in 2012 (27-10) and 2011 (30-20). The Jaguars traded him to the Bengals for cornerback David Jones and a conditional pick that ended up being Jeris Pendleton.
Jones played 21 games for the Jaguars over two seasons, registering 34 tackles with one interception, while Pendleton has played five games in three seasons with Jacksonville and Indianapolis.
In Nelson’s four-plus seasons in Cincinnati, he has 354 tackles, including a team-high 48 this year, 13 interceptions, seven forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and 5.5 sacks.
Injury report: In addition to linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who had knee surgery Wednesday morning and has already been ruled out for Sunday, running back Giovani Bernard (hip/clavicle), cornerback Darqueze Dennard (hamstring), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (illness), linebacker Rey Maualuga (hamstring), defensive tackle Domata Peko (toe), guard/center Mike Pollak (knee), left tackle Andrew Whitworth (vet day) and right guard Kevin Zeitler (calf) did not practice.
Wide receiver A.J. Green (toe), cornerback Terence Newman (back) and right tackle Andre Smith (knee) were listed as limited, while linebacker Jayson DiManche (shoulder) and defensive tackle Brandon Thompson (knee) were full participants.
Thompson has not played since Week 2 but is expected to return Sunday. DiManche left the Baltimore game early, but his full participation Wednesday is a good indication he will get the start for Burfict at WIL linebacker.
HD hopes: Bengals ticket manager Andrew Brown said sales for Sunday's game against Jacksonville have been strong since last weekend's 27-24 victory against Baltimore, and he is optimistic the team can reach the 85 percent threshold to avoid a local television blackout.
“It’s been a good week,” Brown said. “We feel pretty good about getting there for tomorrow.”
The team began pushing the Jacksonville game through group sales and other promotions shortly after the schedule was announced in April.
“Looking at things earlier in the offseason, you could easily identify this as a game that would need some help, so we were able to get out ahead of things a little bit and start pushing things toward Jacksonville,” Brown said. “So we’re in a decent spot. The win certainly helped. The stretch the few weeks before last week kind of stalled things a little, but hopefully we’re back on the right track now. It has been a productive week of sales.”
Brown also said next week’s Thursday night game against Cleveland “looks very good,” as do the rest off the home games – Dec. 7 against Pittsburgh and Dec. 22 against Denver on Monday Night Football.
Early arrival: Whitworth and wife Melissa welcomed their fourth child Wednesday morning when Katherine Kay arrived a week before her due date.
“Katherine is doing well, and Melissa is doing well, so that’s all that matters,” Whitworth said. “It’s very exciting. Unfortunately it’s kind of a surprise thing, so none of the family is here and she’s kind of on her own, so I’m going to get back to her. They’ll be here soon enough. It’s a great time for us.”
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