Packers Notebook (Week 6)

Thin secondary

That sound you hear might be an air raid siren.

With starting cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Kevin King out with shoulder injuries, opposing offenses are sure to test the Green Bay Packers’ defense through the air.

Already without Alexander, the cornerback corps suffered another blow on Sunday when King went down. His final play came during a fourth-quarter collision with Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd, who tried to hurdle King, but King initially was injured when he was bowled over by left tackle Jonah Williams on Adrian Amos’ third-quarter interception.

“That was just the final straw,” coach Matt LaFleur said of the play involving Boyd at the sideline.

Combined with All-Pro Alexander’s injury, which has him on injured reserve with the potential of ending his season, Green Bay’s cornerback corps is incredibly thin. It finished the game with Eric Stokes and Isaac Yiadom at corner and Chandon Sullivan in the slot. In reserve are fifth-round rookie Shemar Jean-Charles, who was embarrassed on Joe Mixon’s fourth-quarter touchdown run, Rasul Douglas, who was plucked off Arizona’s practice squad last week, and Kabion Ento, an undrafted free agent in 2019 who is on the practice squad.

“Anytime you’re losing starters, that’s never fun,” LaFleur said.

The injuries could accelerate Douglas’ push into the lineup. A third-round pick by Philadelphia in 2017, Douglas played in 46 games with 18 starts during three seasons with the Eagles. He failed to stick for a fourth season, though. Released at the end of training camp, he was claimed off waivers by Carolina, for which he started a career-high 11 games last season.

A free agent this past offseason, Douglas signed with the Raiders but was released toward the end of training camp. He spent a few days with the Texans as nothing more than a camp body to get through the preseason finale. A few days later, he signed to the Cardinals’ practice squad.

That makes Green Bay his fourth stop in less than two months.

“I think it’s a great chance,” Douglas said last week. “Just got to learn the defense and what my job is and all the plays. But I definitely think this is a great opportunity for me.”

On Sunday, Stokes spent most of the game matched against young Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase. It’s not ideal to have a rookie asked to be the stopper in the secondary, but such are the circumstances without Alexander.

Stokes battled Chase to a draw. Chase made three superb plays — a catch for 14 yards off Stokes’ deflection in the third quarter, a 19-yard back-shoulder catch on the game-tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter and a ballerina-style toe-tap for 21 yards in overtime. Stokes missed a tackle, which turned a short pass into a gain of 28, and had a potential interception slip through his hands.

“I thought Stokes competed at the highest level,” LaFleur said. “I loved how he challenged Chase, and he was in great position really on every throw that he had on him. You’ve got to give Ja’Marr a lot of credit. That catch he made in overtime on the sidelines, there’s very few guys that are going to make that play. I also think (Joe) Burrow did a nice job on one of the third downs where he threw a back-shoulder.

“I’ve always told our guys there’s no defense for the perfect ball, and that was a perfect ball and the guy adjusted on the fly. Stokes, he just brings it every time he comes out on the field, every play. He’s got a short memory, whether it’s good or bad, and I just love how he’s challenging these receivers. He’s making the offense earn everything they get.”

The pressure will be on Stokes and the last men standing, especially if Alexander’s injury doesn’t respond to rest and will require surgery. Starting in week eight, the Packers face a five-game stretch against Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (if healthy), Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Murray, Stafford and Tom Brady are among the quarterbacks that would loom in the playoffs.

“It is the next man up,” LaFleur said, “and we’re fortunate we’ve got other guys here we feel very, very confident in, and they’re going to have to prove us right.”

Dominating De’Vondre

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and the Packers shopping for a veteran linebacker.

In 2018, it was Antonio Morrison. In 2019, it was B.J. Goodson. In 2020, it was Christian Kirksey. None of those three were asked back for a second season. This time, with the June addition of De’Vondre Campbell, general manager Brian Gutekunst landed a game-changing performer.

“I was talking on the sidelines today and said, ‘How in the hell was this guy on the street?’” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after the Cincinnati game. “It’s a great pickup by our personnel folks. He can run; he’s a great tackler. He’s around the ball all the time; he’s a great locker room guy. I mean, it’s baffling to me. We’re just so thankful to have him because I think as he continues to make plays, his leadership opportunities will continue to grow. Guys listen to him, he’s leading the defense as much as he feels comfortable and that’s a guy we’re really lucky to have.”

A fourth-round pick by Atlanta in 2016, Campbell arrived in Green Bay having started 69 of a possible 80 games in his first five seasons. He started all 16 games for Arizona last season, recording 99 tackles with seven for losses, but there were no takers in free agency. Finally, he landed in Green Bay during the June minicamp.

Green Bay’s every-down inside linebacker and defensive quarterback, Campbell has 47 tackles, two interceptions and three passes defensed in the first five games. He is eighth in the NFL in tackles. Of the 25 players with at least 37 tackles, Campbell is one of only two with at least two interceptions. One of those came in overtime against the Bengals.

“Dre has been outstanding,” LaFleur said. “He’s been so consistent, making plays, being physical. He’s going out there and he’s playing at a really high level, and he’s bringing a lot of energy and confidence to our defense. As good of a player he is, he’s even a better person. We were talking about it as a staff earlier today, just how much fun he is to be around. We’re lucky we have a guy like that.”

Dominating Davante

Rodgers threw for 344 yards in the victory at Cincinnati. Adams accounted for 206 of those on 11 receptions. It was the first 200-yard day of Adams’ career and the first 200-yard performance in the NFL this season.

Adams’ dominating performance matched James Lofton for fourth on the team’s all-time list. Had Rodgers and Adams connected for what might have been the winning touchdown late in regulation, Adams would have finished with 224 yards. That would have trailed only Billy Howton’s 257 yards against the Rams in 1956.

Adams said he saw it coming.

“I told at least three people outside the building, talking to family, one of my cousins, talking to my wife, I told her, ‘I feel like this could be my career high this game,’” he said. “So, either I’m clairvoyant or I know what I’m talking about.”

Adams is so good that even when everyone in the building knows where the ball is going, Adams delivers. Early in the fourth quarter, he split a double team by the Bengals’ best defensive backs, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and safety Jessie Bates, for a gain of 59. With Green Bay trying to attempt a last-second field goal at the end of regulation, he somehow got open over the middle for a gain of 20.

“He’s just so talented,” Rodgers said. “Even when you know that I’m probably going to him, he still finds a way to get open and makes a big catch and breaks a tackle. The guy is a special player.”

Since the start of the 2020 season, Adams has seven games of 10-plus receptions for 100-plus yards. That’s as many as the next two players, Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill (four) and Las Vegas’ Darren Waller (three), combined. Green Bay is 7-0 in those games.

Through five games, he leads the NFL with 42 receptions and 579 yards.

“I could feel him early and I could tell,” LaFleur said. “He’s a guy who’s hungry for the football, and he shows good reason why. He’s got people draped all over him, and it doesn’t matter. He finds a way to do it every time. There’s a reason he’s got that ‘99’ rating in Madden. He is a baller. I don’t think there’s anybody better than him.”

Unlikely targets

At running back, Aaron Jones is considered the do-it-all lightning to AJ Dillon’s thunder. At tight end, Robert Tonyan is considered the playmaker and Marcedes Lewis the blocker.

Against the Bengals, Jones caught four passes for 6 yards while Dillon caught four balls for 49 yards and a touchdown; Tonyan caught one pass for 8 yards while Lewis had two receptions for 30 yards, including a 20-yarder to help set up the winning field goal.

“I think you can see how excited the guys get when he touches the football,” LaFleur said of Lewis, the NFL’s oldest tight end. “Every time we go to ‘Cedes in the pass game, even though we don’t do it a ton, he seems to deliver. That was a pretty big moment in the game, taking that screen pass 20 yards and his ability to be elusive. I always call him ‘Sweet Feet’ when he gets going like that. He made a guy miss and then broke two tackles and was physical. You could feel it, and it definitely brings a lot of juice to our sideline and to our team.”