Packers WR Davante Adams Doubtful; What Impact Will it Have?

As the Cowboys and Packers gear up for their massive week five match-up, Green Bay seems to have received some very disappointing news on their top wide receiver.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday Night Countdown that wide out Davante Adams is unlikely to play in Sunday’s game with the Dallas Cowboys. Adams went down during their week four loss to the Eagles with a toe injury, and was hobbled for much of crunch-time during that game.

Adams was having himself a career day before suffering this injury, going for 180 yards on 10 receptions against the lowly Eagles secondary. Adams had been struggling to get going through their first three games, but everyone expected for his talent to take over at some point this season.

Of course, Davante Adams’ absence will have a serious impact on the rest of the Packers passing game. Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison now become the number 1 and 2 receivers for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and while each is talented in their own right, neither has the receiving ceiling that Adams possesses. Tight end Jimmy Graham will also likely shoulder more targets now that Adams is doubtful for week five.

Even with Adams healthy the first four weeks, the Packers passing offense had struggled a bit to get going prior to their breakout game a week ago. Heading into their game last Thursday night, Green Bay was 20th in offensive DVOA. After they abused an Eagles secondary which has looked downright awful for much of the season, though, they slid up to 16th in team offense and 13th in passing DVOA.

It’s possible that they have simply improved as they’ve gotten more comfortable under new head coach Matt LaFleur, but there’s no question that the Eagles lack of talent on the back-end helped Rodgers out on Thursday night.

If the Packers are hoping to get their running game going during Davante Adams’ absence, they’ll have to be much better in that department than they’ve been thus far. Their number one running back and preseason fantasy hyped player Aaron Jones has just 195 rushing yards on 59 attempts this season, ranking 25th in the league.

Dallas will absolutely trade more Aaron Jones rushing attempts at 3.3 yards per attempt if that means the ball will be taken out of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ hands on early downs.