One of the biggest goals for the Green Bay Packers, and every other NFL team for that matter, during preseason games is to get through them without any major injuries. Though the Packers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 36-19 and saw many of their young stars play well, they were unable to escape the game without a devastating loss on their roster.
The radio voice of the Packers, Wayne Larrivee, appeared on “The Mike Heller Show” on 97.3 The Game yesterday to discuss the Packers’ preseason game against the Bengals and explained why losing Davis is a much bigger deal than many may think.
Wayne Larrivee Explains Why the Loss of Tyler Davis Is a Major Blow to the Green Bay Packers
Mike Heller asked Larrivee how he thinks the injury to Davis will affect the Packers, who have an untraditional tight end in Josiah Deguara and two rookies at the position. Larrivee responded:
“Yeah, I think it’s [a bigger loss] than people think. This kid was having, number one, a great camp. I mean, you saw him in the game. He showed up there. I think he was going to be kind of a leader and a mentor in that tight end room.
“He was going into his fourth year. I think that, besides being a mentor, he was going to be a factor on the field, in this offense. I really believe that.
“But unfortunately, he goes down, and now a young receiving core got even younger.”
It is interesting to hear that Davis was going to play a role in the offense this season considering that he was eight receptions total in his first three NFL seasons. That being said, he was the veteran in the room and could have seen more snaps on offense than he did over the last few seasons.
Perhaps the most devastating part of losing Davis for the season, though, is trying to replace his impact on special teams. Last season, Davis led the team in special teams snaps played with 346 (81% of the total snaps). He had 10 tackles on special teams and was always in the right place at the right time on kick/punt returns.
Filling his role on that unit will be more difficult than people think.
For more on Larrivee’s observations from the preseason thus far, and for Mike Heller refuting Colin Cowherd’s latest nonsense regarding Jordan Love, listen to the whole show linked above.
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