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Aaron Rodgers is the kind of quarterback that can be dangerous with just about any weapon at his disposal. He’s made careers out of guys like Jared Abbrederis, Jarrett Boykin and James Jones.
But this week against the Detroit Lions, it may an even bigger challenge for Rodgers. At Thursday’s practice, Rodgers was missing his top three receivers.
Green Bay has already been practicing without Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison. Cobb suffered a hamstring injury in prior to last week’s game against the Bills, and Allison has been in concussion protocol after suffering a brain injury last week. But during Wednesday’s practice, their No. 1 receiver, Davante Adams, suffered a calf injury and couldn’t finish the session, according to head coach Mike McCarthy. He didn’t practice Thursday.
That leaves Green Bay’s receiving corps completely decimated. Their top three receivers? All rookies: fourth-rounder J’Mon Moore, fifth-rounder Marquez Valdes-Scantling and sixth-rounder Equanimeous St. Brown. Together, the three have combined for a total of two catches for 41 yards—all of which came from Valdes-Scantling.
To make matters even worse, tight end Jimmy Graham missed Wednesday’s practice. He did return on Thursday, but the Packers tight end has been dealing with a knee injury for a couple weeks now. Last week, hobbled by the knee injury, Graham managed just three catches for 21 yards and a score.
Interestingly enough, Rodgers may be facing off against a beaten up secondary. Cornerback Quandre Diggs has been sporting a cast on his left hand at practice all week, Nevin Lawson was not at Thursday’s practice, and Tavon Wilson couldn’t finish last week’s game with a back injury.
We’ve seen Rodgers work his devil magic before, and he’ll likely have to do it again if Green Bay wants to stay above .500.