The Green Bay Packers will face the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football to cap off a wild week in the NFL. While the main focus for the Packers is getting to 3-2, one of the most anticipated aspects of this matchup is Green Bay facing their former All- Pro wide receiver, Davante Adams, for the first time since they traded him to the Raiders.
Over the course of the past week, there has been a great deal of love shown between Adams and the Packers through various interviews. While many believed that Adams hated Brian Gutekunst and the front office, one of his interviews last week told a completely different story.
Aaron Jones, the Packers’ star running back, talked to the Green Bay media last week about how he still views Adams as his big brother.
For his part, Adams had some very kind things to say about Jones when he talked to the Las Vegas media.
Davante Adams Has High Praise for Green Bay Packers Running Back Aaron Jones
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
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Adams and Jones were teammates for five years with the Packers, and in that time became one of the best running back-wide receiver duos in the NFL. Together, they accumulated over 10,000 yards of offense and over 100 touchdowns.
Late last week, Adams was asked about Jones by the Las Vegas media, and he spoke glowingly of his former teammate:
“Yeah, he’s just such a unique runner. A very explosive player and I’ve never seen anybody like him as far as just how vertical he plays. It’s not a lot of breaking down and I think that’s a pretty unconventional way of playing that position because when people are coming out of everywhere and you are running through the smoke, you can easily get hit.
“He’s not AJ Dillon size, so going through the hole I think people aren’t ready for it. Like I said, it’s just so downhill and so vertical that he doesn’t really give people time to get a plan together. A very slippery player and really good vision, and when you put those together, it creates a pretty big problem.”
Adams, of course, is right; when Jones is healthy and head coach Matt LaFleur actually calls plays for him, the Packers offense is very difficult to stop.
Feeding Aaron Jones Is the Key to Green Bay Packers Success
In the Packers’ Week One victory over the Chicago Bears, Jones received 11 touches (nine rushes and two receptions), gained 127 yards of total offense, and scored two touchdowns. When the Packers lost at home to the Lions last Thursday, Jones received only six touches and gained just 14 yards of total offense.
Of course, Jones was on a pitch count last week as he was coming back from a hamstring injury, and the offensive line could not block anyone. However, the lack of touches for Jones continues to show a trend: when he does not get the ball often, Green Bay is likely to lose.
Last season, the Packers were 3-1 when Jones was given at least 15 touches in games. As he played in all 17 games last season, this means they were 5-8 when he received less than 15 touches.
The fact of the matter is that Jones is true gamechanger and is arguably the most consistent big-play threat on the Packers’ offense. As much as fans may want to see Jordan Love connect on more deep balls with Christian Watson, a more certain path to more wins is to feed their star running back.
And of course, Coach LaFleur knows this; whether or not he will remember to call those plays is always a question from week to week.
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