Having Gone 7-0 Without Adams, Packers’ Vrabel ‘Excited’ for Challenge
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Seven times the last three seasons, the Green Bay Packers lined up for a game without Davante Adams. Seven times, they emerged victorious.
Now, following the offseason trade of Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Packers will have to line up for 17-plus games without the two-time All-Pro receiver. It’s a daunting challenge, especially for a team that will be counting on a rookie because there is no young receiver who’s on a breakout trajectory waiting in the wings, but it’s a challenge that receivers coach and passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable is embracing.
“I’m actually really excited about it, I really am,” Vrable said on Tuesday. “Getting new guys in here, we have a great roster already here – guys who’ve played – but fresh guys, it’s exciting. It’s a test for me and Matt (LaFleur) along with our offensive staff to get these guys up to par, whoever it might be. I was blessed with Tae. It was a great three years. We had a good run, did a lot of good things together.”
That made Green Bay’s success without Adams one of the great statistical anomalies. During his final six seasons with the team, Adams ranked No. 1 among receivers with 581 receptions (31 more than DeAndre Hopkins), 7,192 receiving yards (63 more than Julio Jones) and 69 touchdowns (nine more than Mike Evans).
And yet, during LaFleur’s three seasons as coach, the Packers went 7-0 without Adams. Their last loss came against Detroit in the 2018 finale, when Joe Philbin was interim coach and Aaron Rodgers exited with a concussion on the opening series.
Green Bay averaged 31.6 points in those seven games. Overall, the Packers averaged 27.2 points during that span. Rodgers threw 19 touchdowns vs. one interception. Among the victories, they won in 2020 at New Orleans, when the Saints finished 12-4 and earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and in 2021 at Arizona, when the Cardinals were the NFL’s final undefeated team at 7-0.
“I think that's a testament to the guys we have as far as the depth, guys who've bought into the leaders,” Vrable said. “Davante set a standard, Allen (Lazard) has. Those guys performed at a high level. Maybe they haven't been as good week in and week out, but they set the standard. When you have that, younger guys, you either buy in or you don't and there's no in between.
“A lot of those guys have bought in to being like, ‘I want to be like Davante. I want to be like Allen or Randall (Cobb).’ When they get their shot, I think the stage isn't too big because every day we try to practice that standard.”
With two first-round picks, two second-round picks, seven choices in the first four rounds and 11 selections in total, the Packers figure to draft a receiver early and perhaps often. Whoever that player is, he’ll have Cobb and Lazard to serve mentors in what is sure to be a crash course to a difficult transition.
Entering Year 12, Cobb swallowed a pay cut to return to Green Bay for another season. He’s with the team to catch passes, first and foremost, but he’ll also be tasked with showing what it takes to be a pro. He did that alongside Adams last season. This year, the onus will fall more on Cobb.
“He’s up there as the best. He really is,” Vrable said. “Every single day, he's a true professional. He's a leader of guys, he's a leader in our room. He's also a leader of the team. I'm fired up about him. You can't have enough of Randalls on your team ever. The more you have, the more W’s you end up with at the end of the season. I truly believe that. But it's a combination of him and Allen. Allen's grown into his own. I love the guy, I love what he stands for when you talk about what we represent in our room. He is the exact definition – he and Randall – of what I want everyone to play like.”
For the 12th time, Rodgers will suit up for the Packers in search of a second Super Bowl championship. Climbing to the top of the NFL mountain without Adams only adds to the challenge.
“It was a hard evening,” Vrable said of when the Packers traded Adams to the Raiders on March 17.
Reaching the summit will require the Packers to somehow keep winning games without one of the best players in the NFL.
“I never just say to myself, ‘Oh, my gosh, I'd rather not have him here,” Vrable said. “But it happened, and we won a lot of games. I remember one time Tae was joking with me, and this was probably last year, he goes, ‘You don't even need me, anyway. What's the big deal? We're winning without me, right? And I was like, ‘Well, yeah, I guess.’ But it's a little more gray hairs whenever he wasn't out there and we had to prep a guy who's never played before. But the system, I think the culture, has been set and it's a new year. We’ve got to rebuild and get back to that.”
