There are storylines aplenty as the Green Bay Packers get ready to meet the Las Vegas Raiders Monday night at Allegiant Stadium. First and foremost is the reunion between the Packers and one of their most celebrated wide receivers in franchise history, Davante Adams. After re-writing the Packer record book during his eight seasons in Green Bay, most catches in a year (123 in 2021, in fact he holds three of the top four seasons), most yards in a single season (1553, also in ’21), and most touchdowns in one year (18, matching Sterling Sharpe’s record in 2020), Adams got his wish to move closer to his Northern California home and play with his college quarterback in Derek Carr as the Packers traded him to the Las Vegas Raiders in March of 2022. Adams played three seasons under Head Coach Matt LaFleur and LaFleur said this week the knowledge he has over how prolific he is won’t help much because he remains one of the most dynamic pass catchers in the game. High praise was coming from every corner of the locker room after Thursday’s practice. Aaron Jones said Davante was a true role model and a big brother to him:
No one may looking more forward to the reunion that Jaire Alexander. Even though he’s been sidelined the past two weeks with a bad back, Alexander with this big of a matchup, there’s no way he’s missing out on this one.
There’s just a couple more days before the circled date arrives.
Adams met reporters in Las Vegas after the Raiders workout Thursday and he was peppered with questions about facing his old team. Davante said Green Bay is the only NFL team he hasn’t played against and it will be an unusual week leading up to the game but once the ball is kicked off, it’s business as usual. Adams said contrary to reports that surfaced after the blockbuster trade in which Green Bay received two second round draft picks, there are no hard feelings between he and his former team. He still keeps in touch with the front office and some of the assistant coaches, he even texted LaFleur on his birthday, but he admits the roster has changed over so much since he left, there aren’t all that many former teammates around. As for Alexander, Adams recalled how Jaire begged to cover him from his very first training camp practice as a rookie. Adams was impressed with the former number one pick immediately, and even more so when in the locker room after the first practice, Alexander was already looking over his I-pad, checking out his technique and how Adams tried to school him on routes, asking questions of Davante on what he was trying to do and how he could defend plays better. Adams said Thursday, “I didn’t create that monster, but that’s what he’s become.”
The WR-CB matchup should be a fun one to watch. But that’s not the only reunion. There are a couple of former Raiders now on the Packers, including Special Teams Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach Rich Bisaccia. He was named interim Head Coach of the Raiders after Jon Gruden was fired a month into the 2021 season. Bisaccia led Las Vegas to a 7-6 record, earning them a playoff spot where they were beaten by the Cincinnati Bengals 26-19. When he was hired in Green Bay the following spring, Bisaccia convinced General Manager Brian Gutekunst to sign a couple of ex-Raiders to help turn around the Packers special teams. Safety Dallin Leavitt has become the quarterback on the unit after playing four years with the Raiders and Keisean Nixon had an even bigger impact once he became the lead kick returner, being named to the All-Pro first team for his efforts.
Then there’s the Carlson boys. Daniel Carlson is the All-Pro kicker for the Raiders, coached up by Bisaccia after he was originally with the Minnesota Vikings but he was cut after just one month. He now has one of the best legs in the league. His younger brother Anders was drafted by the Packers in the 6th round this spring and after an up and down training camp and pre-season, Carlson has been perfect on field goals and extra points in his first month as a pro. Anders said it was after church one day as a child that the boys were approached by a high school coach looking for a placekicker. His oldest brother declined, preferring to stick with soccer, the sport of all three boys growing up. Daniel accepted the offer and he drilled a 50 yarder during his tryout and Anders said the rest was history. He decided to follow his older brother and ditched the soccer ball for a football, earning a scholarship to Auburn University and a draft day phone call from the Packers.
The first injury report for the week came out after Thursday’s practice for both teams For Las Vegas, Adams sat it out after injuring his shoulder last week against the Chargers. He left the game for a while to get examined in the locker room but eventually returned and he expects to play Monday night. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo returned to work on a limited basis after sitting out the L.A. game with a concussion and star edge rusher Maxx Crosby was also limited with a sore knee.
For the Packers, four players did not participate. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell is still the most concerning. He disclosed on his own radio show earlier in the week that he suffered a high ankle sprain and even LaFleur admitted the team might want to hold Campbell out this week and give him the entire bye week to get right before possibly returning for the Denver Bronco game on October 22. Safety Rudy Ford is dealing with oblique injury and may try to practice on Friday. Guard Jon Runyan injured an ankle against Detroit last Thursday but still finished the game and safety Zayne Anderson continues to deal with a hamstring pull.
Limited participants included Elgton Jenkins. The Pro Bowl guard has made a rapid recovery after suffering a sprained MCL against the Atlanta Falcons and he could make his return Monday night. Zach Tom has played through a troubling knee injury. Alexander appears recovered from the sore back of the past two weeks. Christian Watson and Aaron Jones are still limited coming off hamstring pulls and it will be interesting to see if the snap counts they were on against Detroit will be increased or better yet, eliminated. Both players are sorely needed for an offense that has struggled the last two weeks, especially early in games. Eric Stokes also worked on a limited basis but he’s just come off the Physically Unable to Perform list and it appears the Packers won’t be in any rush to bring him up to the 53 man roster until after the bye week at the earliest.
