GREEN BAY — Keisean Nixon said all the right things on Thursday afternoon.

Some of them he even said more than once.

The Green Bay Packers No. 1 cornerback, speaking with reporters for the first time in training camp, faced a series of questions about the hamstring injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s first practice, his return to action on Thursday, and how he needs to elevate his play this season.

But when it came to the subject of his contract, which has one year remaining on it at a $4.3 million base salary for this season, Nixon was not about to delve into the topic, referring all questions to his agent, Tory Dandy, and Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.

“I’ll just leave all contract stuff between Gutey and my agent Tory Dandy,” Nixon said. “I’m here to play ball.”

Are they talking? “Between Gutey and Tory Dandy.”

Are you OK with playing on the current deal? “Between Gutey and Tory Dandy.”

Later, after the crowd around his locker dispersed, Nixon was asked how he planned on approaching the rest of the season.

“Just put my best foot forward, and not really worry about it,” he replied. “It’s God’s timing. He’ll handle that. Just leave everything to Gutey and my agent. But time will tell.

“Basically, just play ball. I’m a football player, first. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Nixon, who passed his physical upon arriving at camp on but did not take part in Wednesday’s first practice because of what the team said was a hamstring injury, said his injury was legitimate and not any attempt to make a statement about his dissatisfaction with his contract.

He said he got up Wednesday morning with tightness in the hamstring and the team recommended he have it examined. So he did.

“Literally waking up, it was sore. They just told me to go get it scanned,” Nixon explained after returning to his normal spot with the No. 1 offense for all of Thursday’s practice. “They weren’t really [concerned] about me [not] practicing.”

As the Packers’ No. 1 cornerback, Nixon is underpaid.

He’s in the last year of a three-year, $18 million deal, and the annual average of $6 million per year makes him 41st-highest paid cornerback in the league, according to Spotrac.

The 29-year-old Nixon started all 18 games (including playoffs) last season and was named to the NFC’s Pro Bowl team as an alternate. He finished the year with 78 tackles, three tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery, a career-high 17 pass break-ups and one interception — a victory-clinching end zone INT in a 28-21 victory over the rival Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Dec. 7.

Pro Football Focus gave him a 66.4 overall grade, which ranked him 41st among the 114 cornerbacks the site graded.

“I thought Kei played some really good football for us,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said before practice. “He’s got a ton of experience under his belt and certainly knows how we want to do things around here. So, I’m excited to see him out there competing today.”

When Nixon didn’t practice on Wednesday, rookie second-round pick Brandon Cisse worked with the starting defense. With Nixon back, he and Carrington Valentine were the starting cornerbacks.

And while he never said that he was satisfied with playing on his existing deal, Nixon watched Pro Bowl left guard-turned-center Elgton Jenkins try to get his contract altered with two years left on his deal — and get nowhere.

After skipping most of the offseason program, Jenkins struggled early in the season at his new position, suffered a season-ending broken leg in November and was released after the season.

Which is why Nixon — having worked his way up to being the team’s top cornerback from signing as a minimum-salary special-teams player in 2022 before becoming an All-Pro kick returner and nickel corner — insisted that he’ll focus on his craft and not any frustration he’s feeling and disguising.

“I just want to compete, taking steps from last year,” Nixon said. “Just going over the film and watching the mistakes I made and just some of the dumb penalties that I gave up just not understanding the level of [playing outside cornerback] and what it takes, I feel like I had a really strong year to start it but I’m definitely ready to prove myself again this year.”

​COPYRIGHT 2026 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.