The Green Bay Packers will officially be facing the Los Angeles Rams on the road in Week Five without their two starting wide receivers. Christian Watson suffered a high ankle sprain in Green Bay’s Week Four 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at home. While he is listed as doubtful on the Packers’ injury report for Sunday, he is not going to go on injured reserve, which means he will return within four weeks.
With Watson out, the Packers need the rest of the young pass catchers to step up and help spread the field. Watson is also one of the best blocking wide receivers in the NFL and is vital to the team’s success in run game.
Unfortunately, they will also be without their other starting wide receiver, Romeo Doubs, who has been suspended by the team.
The Green Bay Packers Suspend Wide Receiver Romeo Doubs 1 Game
Doubs was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, but did not show up on Thursday or Friday. According to Bill Huber, who covers the Packers for Sports Illustrated, sources close to the situation said that Doubs is not happy with his role on the team. He skipped practice as a result.
On Saturday, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst announced that Doubs is being suspended for the team’s Week Five game against the Rams:
“Unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to suspend Romeo for this week’s game. His decisions and actions during the week negatively impacted the team and required us to take this action. While we are certainly disappointed, we are confident that we will be able to move forward in a positive manner. Romeo is a valuable member of our team and we look forward to welcoming him back next week.”
Doubs is currently third on the team in targets (20) and second in receptions (12).
This is certainly an unfortunate situation, especially since Doubs is from Los Angeles and will not be able to play as a result of his actions and decisions.
How Will the Green Bay Packers and Romeo Doubs Move Forward?
While the situation is unfortunate, Gutekunst appears optimistic that Doubs and the Packers will be able to move forward in a positive manner. One must remember that Green Bay is no stranger to this type of situation.
Last season, two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander was suspended for the Packers’ Week 17 game against the Vikings, a game that Green Bay needed to win in order to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Alexander had declared himself a team captain in the Packers’ Week 16 game against the Carolina Panthers and nearly cost Green Bay the coin toss.
After he was suspended, Alexander and the Packers had really constructive discussions and came out of it with a better relationship than they had before.
Hopefully the same will be true of Doubs.
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