Matt LaFleur Talked to Josh Jacobs About No. 1 Receiver Comments

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At the Super Bowl, Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs talked about the team’s need to add a receiver that’s “proven to be a No. 1 already.”

The Packers didn’t get that “proven” No. 1 receiver this offseason. So, the Packers in 2025 will lean on the same group of receivers that Jacobs, in so many words, didn’t think was good enough in 2024.

“It’s something we definitely talked about,” coach Matt LaFleur told reporters at the NFL owners meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday morning. “I think it’s an unintended consequence. I don’t think he was trying to disparage any of our other guys, and I hope our guys don’t take it that way.”

Indeed, Jacobs did say they had the ability to be “really, really, really special.” Without DK Metcalf, Davante Adams or even Cooper Kupp to ride the rescue, it will be up to the returning players to rise to the occasion.

“Ideally, they’ll continue to work and push and one of those guys will be that guy,” LaFleur said.

It won’t be easy.

Christian Watson, with his elite combination of size and speed, suffered a torn ACL in the final game of the regular season. When he missed Week 17 at Minnesota with a knee injury, sustained the ACL tear early in Week 18 against Chicago and was inactive for the playoff game at Philadelphia, the Packers went 0-3.

“I feel good about our receiver room,” LaFleur continued. “I know I said it a year ago. Obviously, it doesn’t help when you lose a guy like Christian Watson, and who knows when we’ll get him back. Just his physicality, his speed (and) he’s an intelligent player. You could move him from position to position within a game and not everybody can handle that, so that is a big loss for us.”

The Packers signed veteran Mecole Hardman and almost certainly will use a premium pick on a receiver in the draft, but they’ll have to lean heavily on the returning group of Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks.

Doubs, despite his touted route-running ability, hasn’t hit 60 receptions for 700 yards in a season and doesn’t have a 100-yard performance in 43 career regular-season games. He missed one game last season with a suspension and suffered two concussions during the second half of the year.

Reed’s start to 2024 was as hot as his finish was cold. He had three 100-yard games during the first nine games but only one of 50-plus yards during the final eight. In key NFC North road games down the stretch, Reed had zero catches against the Lions and one catch for 6 yards against the Vikings.

“I think there was a point in time about midway through where he got a little bit banged up,” LaFleur said. “Nothing serious, just the overall pounding, and I think it definitely took a little bit of a toll.

“But I also think that we could have done better from a staff perspective of trying to put him in some more advantageous situations where he could have produced those numbers, because he’s an explosive player and he’s one of those guys that you want to get the ball to, no doubt about it.”

Wicks’ 39 catches in 2024 matched his production from his rookie season, but his yards fell from 581 to 415, his yards per catch plunged from 14.9 to 10.6 and his drops soared from two to nine. He had the second-highest drop rate in the NFL; Reed had the third-highest.

Malik Heath (10 catches for 97 yards) and Bo Melton (eight catches, 91 yards), a pair of minor contributors, will return, as well.

“Those other guys are going to have to pick up the slack,” LaFleur said. That includes the tight ends, with Tucker Kraft coming off a breakout second season, and the running backs.

“Whether it’s coming from the tight end room or the running back room, whether it’s Josh or maybe a guy like MarShawn Lloyd – love to see what he can do in that area, as well, and how he can affect the game. That’s our job as coaches is try to figure that out and put the best pieces out there to maximize that part of the game.”

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