Packers Notebook (Nov. 15)

Adams chasing history

Across the street from Lambeau Field stands the Don Hutson Center, the Green Bay Packers’ indoor practice facility. The building honors one of the great players in NFL history, the legendary receiver who helped revolutionize the NFL.

In the 11-game 1942 season, Hutson caught 74 passes for 1,211 yards and 17 touchdowns. Almost 80 years later, Hutson’s 110.1 receiving yards per game stands as the best in franchise history. From James Lofton and Sterling Sharpe, to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, that mark has scarcely been tested.

Until now, with Hutson’s ancient record under assault from Davante Adams.

Through eight games, Adams is averaging 112.5 receiving yards per game. He’s the only player in the league averaging even 100 receiving yards per game. And he’s at that lofty level despite missing most of the second half of the week three game against Detroit.

“He’s such a great player,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “He’s tough on matchups, he’s able to create so much space with his release pattern and he’s got enough speed to get on top, so you can’t necessarily play low and expect certain routes. He’s so talented. He can do it all, handles himself the right way. Just a joy to play with. A special guy.”

Adams dominated Thursday night’s victory over San Francisco with 10 receptions for 173 yards and one touchdown. It was his third game of 10-plus catches, 150-plus yards and at least one touchdown. That tied Calvin Johnson’s NFL single-season record, an incredible feat considering Adams has played only five full games.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Adams is the first player since Hall of Famer Randy Moss in 2007 to record at least 600 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns in his first six games of a season. He has caught 53 passes for 675 yards. His eight receiving touchdowns are second in the NFL.

Crucially, Adams has caught 76.8 percent of targeted passes. He had never done better than 65.7 percent. So, while Adams is targeted a lot as the team’s clear-cut best receiver, he’s been incredibly efficient.

“I think that’s fair to say,” Adams said when asked if he considered himself the best receiver in the NFL. “I think that’s not being conceited; that’s just being confident. I think obviously what I’ve done and what I’m going to continue to do is going to prove that to anybody who isn’t on board with that.

“But I truly believe that just based off of the work that I’ve put in, the connection I have between my quarterback. It’s not just about me just running a route. If the line isn’t protecting or if the quarterback doesn’t look your way or if the other receivers don’t do their part to pull defenders away, none of what I do can happen. So, at the end of the day, I’ll tell you yes, absolutely, I think I’m the best wide receiver in the game, but there’s a lot of things that go into me being able to make that statement.”

In no rush

Rodgers has been given ample time despite playing behind a series of makeshift offensive lines. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s faced pressure on 24.2 percent of his dropbacks, the third-lowest rate in the NFL. On Sunday, he’ll attack a Jacksonville defense that is 31st in the NFL in sack percentage and quarterback hits.

With the defensive front not applying pressure, Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash put his unit in attack mode coming out of the bye. Last week against Houston, the Jaguars blitzed Deshaun Watson on 21 of 40 dropbacks. That compares to 15 blitzes in 38 dropbacks in the first matchup.

“We’re starting to get pressure,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said on Monday. “We let a couple of sacks get away from us where we had him in the grasp a couple of times. We’re trending in the right direction. Probably not fast enough for all of us. It has been increasing.”

Blocking that pressure will be at the forefront of coach Matt LaFleur’s game plan. Rodgers leads the NFL in overall passer rating but is 21st of 38 qualifying quarterbacks when pressured, according to Pro Football Focus.

“What is your pressure plan? How are you going to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands? What are you going to do up front in terms of if they have something within their scheme that can give you problems?” LaFleur said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Todd Wash. He’s been at this thing for a long time and does a great job with the defense. We’ve got to be mindful of that and make sure we look at everything and understand how to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands yet still gain yards and have success.”

Extra time

The Packers got blasted at Tampa Bay following their bye week. Now, they’re coming off their so-called mini-bye after routing San Francisco.

For LaFleur, the focus was on the long grind ahead.

“We are going to have eight games in a row, so I thought it was important for our players and our staff to get away for a couple of days, kind of recharge that battery, especially coming off a Thursday night game where there’s not a lot of sleep going on,” he said. “We need everybody fresh and energized. I can’t stress enough the importance of having positive energy for everybody involved in this thing as we hit the second half of this season.”

The Packers won twice after Thursday games last year and would have been 8-2 in their last 10 if not for the Fail Mary game at Seattle in 2012.