There is no sugarcoating the potential loss of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams for Thursday night’s game against the Arizona Cardinals for Aaron Rodgers.
Not even a 6-0 record without him.
Adams was placed on the Packers' reserve/COVID-19 list Monday, and protocols require that he test negative twice, 24 hours apart, and be asymptomatic for 48 hours in order to be eligible to play against the 7-0 Cardinals.
It’s a tight and unforgiving timetable for a Thursday night game, one that leaves the Packers with little choice but to prepare as though their star wide receiver won’t be available. Under coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers are 6-0 without Adams over the last two years, but that’s of little consolation to his quarterback.
“I don’t know. We’re not a better team without him, that’s for sure. I’d have to look at each of those games, but we just found a way. … Others guys just got to step up,” Rodgers said Tuesday.
The Packers (6-1) will be trying to keep pace with a prolific Cardinals offense that ranks fourth in the NFL at 32.1 points per game. The Packers rank 16th (24 points), and that’s been with Adams enjoying a stellar season.
In even more bad news for the Packers passing game, another wide receiver -- Allen Lazard -- was placed on the COVID-19 list Tuesday and is out for Thursday as Lazard is unvaccinated and was a COVID-19 close contact, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. Lazard is a big target (6-foot-5, 227 pounds) who just posted his best game of the season (5-60-1) against the Washington Football Team on Sunday.
It’s Adams, however, whose absence would be far more concerning for the Packers.
“There’s a little bit of a shock factor, for sure, when it’s Davante but we dealt with it last year,” Rodgers said of Adams' placement on the COVID list. “We’re maybe slightly more healthy than some of the other teams as far as not having as many cases, but there have been cases here and we’ve dealt with 'em. But when I heard (Adams’ No.) 17, I was hoping that it was going to be one of those false positives for sure.”
Without Adams or Lazard, the Packers would have to rely more heavily on receivers Randall Cobb and Equanimeous St. Brown, as well as tight end Robert Tonyan.
The Packers hope for wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling's return from a hamstring injury Thursday, as well.
Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Thursday's game. LaFleur said Tuesday that defensive backs coach Jerry Gray will call defensive plays and added that there are no other COVID issues with the coaching staff, but he would wait until Wednesday to see where they were as far as issues with the players.