If Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is going to pull off a victory over the Arizona Cardinals in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs this upcoming weekend, he's going to have to do it with a seriously depleted wide receiver corps. Already missing No. 1 wideout Jordy Nelson and making do with street free agents like James Jones, Rodgers will be down yet another young playmaker as Davante Adams is unlikely to play against Arizona this weekend, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
Packers receiver Davante Adams is unlikely to play Saturday against the Cardinals, according to a source. The... https://t.co/Zsg7xPYxKq
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) January 12, 2016
Per Demovsky, Adams has an MCL sprain, an injury he suffered this past weekend during the Packers' wildcard win over the Washington Redskins.
In that game, Adams caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. Looked at by Rodgers and the Packer faithful as one of the players that needed to step up in Nelson's absence, Adams failed to grab hold of the opportunity for the majority of this season.
He didn't play poorly, per se, but he finished the regular season with just 50 receptions for 483 yards and one touchdown, far off the production expected of the former second-round pick, especially after he put together a rookie campaign that included 38 receptions for 446 yards and three touchdowns with Nelson healthy and filling the top receiver role.
Now, with Adams apparently down, Randall Cobb, Jones and depth players like Jared Abbrederis and Jeff Janis will have to take on larger roles on the outside.
Facing the vaunted Cardinals aerial attack - Bruce Arians' group finished this season with the top-ranked offense in the league, averaging 408.3 yards per game - the Packers and Rodgers will likely try to slow the game down, control the clock by pounding the rock with Eddie Lacy and James Starks, and do their best to keep it from turning into a shootout which, with their overmatched weapons, they'd likely have almost no chance of winning.
