Packers Notebook (vs. Patriots)

Rookie sensation

Ready or not, it’s Romeo Doubs time.

With veteran Sammy Watkins placed on injured reserve on Saturday, the rookie receiver played 55 of 62 snaps in the Green Bay Packers’ victory at Tampa Bay on Sunday. All he did was catch all eight passes thrown his way for 73 yards and one touchdown.

“This is a kid that’s got a ton of potential, and we’re excited about him,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “Obviously, young player, not even close to his ceiling. And he’s just got to keep taking the same approach, which I know he will. He takes it one day at a time, and he tries to be his best every day.

“There’s going to be a lot of learning along the way. I think these next few weeks are going to be just critical to his growth (with him) having the majority of the snaps. He cares about the game and he gives great effort each and every day.”

Doubs, a fourth-round pick who dominated lesser competition at Nevada, was one of the team’s top players through the first half of training camp before fading into the background a bit. His ability to get open and to play with faster-than-the-stopwatch explosiveness has never been in doubt.

With Watkins out for at least three more games, the door is open for Doubs to grab a firm hold on a role for the rest of the season.

“He was a guy that showed up consistently being able to separate vs. man coverage that we were getting,” LaFleur said. “I thought he did an outstanding job. He’s got the body-movement skills, he’s got the explosiveness, he plays on his insteps, gets both feet in the ground, and that allows him to get off bump coverage. And the game is not too big for him.

“I think you see it. I feel it every time we go out there: a guy that’s just showing more and more confidence, and I think that’s a big part of being able to play to your potential.”

In a hyped receiver class, Doubs ranks fourth with 14 receptions. That trails only the first-round trio of the Jets’ Garrett Wilson (18), the Saints’ Chris Olave (17) and the Falcons’ Drake London (16). He is No. 1 in yards after the catch, too, as LaFleur wanted to get the ball into the playmaker’s hands in what turned out to be an excellent first NFL start.

“You can say that, yeah,” Doubs said after the game. “I’m just ready to move forward from whatever’s happening. I understand it was a big game, but that’s just part of it. Whatever performance, if it was a bad performance, I’d be the same way. All right, good, just making sure I stay true to who I am, not just as a player but as a person.”

Meanwhile, Watkins signed with the Packers in hopes of resurrecting a career that had gone south due to injuries. After catching three passes for 93 yards in a Week 2 victory over Chicago, he suffered a hamstring injury at Wednesday’s practice. By the time his IR stint is over, he will have missed 34 games the past eight seasons.

LaFleur took the blame. It wasn’t just the coach trying to redirect criticism toward one of his players. There have been too many hamstring and groin injuries to start this season, so he’s having his strength and conditioning staff evaluating his practice routine in search of answers.

“I feel awful about that because I feel like we probably pushed our guys a little too hard in that regard in coming off a physical game, a night game,” LaFleur said of the Chicago game. “He’s done everything in his power to be in great shape, and he is in great shape.

“You look at the volume and the workload and always trying to look at yourself critically in thinking about what we could’ve done better. We’ve had a few too many soft-tissue injuries, so that probably tells you that we’re maybe pushing it a little too much. It’s an unfortunate part of it. Feel bad about it but there’s nothing we can do about it retroactively. We can only control moving forward what we ask our guys to do.”

Dominant defense

The Packers haven’t won many games like the one at Tampa Bay. During the Aaron Rodgers era, the Packers were just 3-26 when scoring 14-or-fewer points in a game. One of those wins was the 2019 opener at Chicago. The other two were doing the Super Bowl season of 2010.

“We don’t need to play the Bucs to get confidence,” said linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who preserved the victory with a leaping deflection of the Bucs’ two-point play. “We know how good we can be. Everybody got their own opinions but we know what’s up.”

Improved tackling

Through the first two games, the Packers missed 16 tackles, according to SportRadar. That was the fourth-most in the NFL.

They missed only one vs. Tampa Bay, by our review. That was Campbell vs. receiver Breshad Perriman, that play ending when rookie Quay Walker forced a fumble and key turnover.

“I thought our guys, they did an outstanding job,” LaFleur said of the tackling. “Tampa, obviously, they were missing some key pieces that present some problems. But we can only control what we can control, and our guys were flying around. Like you mentioned, you miss a tackle and a guy causes a fumble. So, I just thought our effort, by and large, playing in those elements and those conditions, I thought our guys were flying around.”

Packers and the schedule

The Packers have a chance to make some hay the next four weeks with Sunday’s home game against the Patriots (1-2), a trip to London to play the Giants (2-1), a return trip to Lambeau to play the Jets (1-2) and a game at the Commanders (1-2).

They’ll need to win those games. The Washington game kicks off a three-game road trip that includes dates at Buffalo and Detroit. Plus, the Packers have road games against the NFL’s last undefeated teams, the Eagles in week 12 and the Dolphins in week 16.

“If you would’ve said in the offseason we’d be 2-1 after three with these two tough road games, I’d say that’s probably pretty good,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said, “considering that you would expect Minnesota and Tampa Bay to be in the top seven teams at the end of the season. So, I feel good about that.”