Well, this isn’t good.
The Green Bay Packers will almost certainly go without Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. Both are doubtful on the Week 5 injury report.
Watson thankfully avoided a serious injury but isn’t ready to go this week. The Packers added Doubs to the injury report on Thursday due to a personal matter but didn’t provide any information. Head coach Matt LaFleur called it “day-to-day” but wasn’t sure if Doubs would return in time to play this week.
Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber reports that Doubs skipped practice because “he is upset with his opportunities in the passing game.”
“Doubs practiced on Wednesday but didn’t show up on Thursday. Worried about Doubs’s well-being, team representatives found him at his home,” writes Huber.
Huber added that reporters overheard LaFleur speaking to the players before Thursday’s practice, which is where things get even more interesting.
“After Thursday’s pre-practice warmup inside the Don Hutson Center, LaFleur gathered the team before heading outside for practice,” writes Huber. “He spoke for perhaps a minute, mostly out of the range of reporters’ ears. One word was easily audible, though, as he implored his team to have a good practice and not let … something become a ‘distraction.'”
Wait, what?
Packers list Romeo Doubs as doubtful for Week 5 due to ‘personal’ matter
This is a surprising report and has seemingly come out of nowhere. Doubs is a featured part of the passing game. He has played more snaps than any other Packers receiver this season and is third in targets with 20. Doubs had more targets than any other player on the team last season.
LaFleur provided no additional information on Friday, simply saying “it’s still day-to-day.” Doubs’ doubtful designation on the injury report suggests he won’t play this week.
The Packers have built a selfless receiving corps without a “true WR1” who dominates all of the targets. It’s what made them so hard to defend last season. Doubs is one of the most targeted players in this offense, and it’s hard to imagine his role increasing much more, considering the other talented receivers around him. Green Bay needs to get the ball to Jayden Reed, Watson, and Dontayvion Wicks.
The fact they have so many options is what makes the passing game so unique. Teams can’t zero in on taking away one receiver.
Without Doubs, Wicks will get an opportunity to build on a strong fourth-quarter performance from last week. Ironically, if he has a good game, it could increase his playing time and actually hurt Doubs’ snaps in the future.
Where do the Packers go from here? Only time will tell.
Doubs is officially doubtful to play this week, but beyond that? Your guess is as good as ours.