Green Bay's decimated receiving group has taken one more hit as the Packers prepare to face the unbeaten Arizona Cardinals.
Allen Lazard joined 2020 All-Pro wideout Davante Adams on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday. Adams was placed on the list Monday.
That means neither receiver is likely to play Thursday at Arizona (7-0).
Lazard's potential absence would make it even tougher for the Packers to maintain their uncanny level of success in games Adams has missed.
Adams has sat out six games since 2019 because of injury. The Packers have won them all.
None of the other games the Packers won without Adams were quite as challenging as this one.
The Packers (6-1) have a short week to prepare for a road test against the NFL’s lone remaining unbeaten team.
They also likely will be without defensive coordinator Joe Barry, who tested positive this week. Receiver Malik Taylor had been on the reserve/COVID-19 list since Oct. 15, but was activated Tuesday.
That’s what they’ve been able to do the other times they’ve been without Adams recently. Rodgers recalled how other players often have stepped up to make big plays in those games.
For instance, Lazard had six catches for 146 yards and a touchdown when the Packers won 37-30 at New Orleans without Adams last year. One week later, tight end Robert Tonyan caught three touchdown passes in a 30-16 victory over Atlanta when Adams was still sidelined.
Perhaps no team relies more on a single receiver than the Packers depend on Adams. He is tied for second in the league in catches (52) and targets (73), behind only Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams. He ranks third in yards receiving with 744, behind Kupp and Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase.
Nobody else on the Packers has more than 28 targets, 26 catches or 186 yards receiving.
While the offense prepares for the possibility of playing without Adams, the defense is adapting to Barry's likely absence.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said defensive backs coach Jerry Gray would make the defensive calls if Barry's unavailable. Gray was a defensive coordinator with Buffalo from 2001-05 and with Tennessee from 2011-13.
