Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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GREEN BAY – For all the varied and valuable contributions the Packers have gotten on offense through the first half of the season, there's no question who their top two playmakers are:
Davante Adams and Aaron Jones.
Yet over the first eight games, the team's best receiver and running back have been on the field together for just 3½ of them – through halftime of Week 2, and then Weeks 6 and 9.
That's it. Otherwise, the Packers have been playing without either Adams (hamstring) or Jones (calf) while they worked their way back from injuries, and they've still ranked seventh in the league in yards and third in points.
That speaks volumes about the play of QB Aaron Rodgers, the team's depth, and the coaches' plans, but it also makes one wonder about the possibilities if the second half of 2020 can feature the duo playing together more regularly.
"Continuity in general makes everybody feel a little bit more comfortable," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "Certainly, you want all your weapons at your disposal, and those are two explosive guys."
Despite each missing two games, Adams (53 catches, 675 yards, eight TDs) and Jones (90 carries, 447 yards, five TDs) are easily the offense's most productive players, and together they challenge a defense the way no other pair of Packers does.
Adams described it primarily as a decision surrounding how opponents want to employ their safeties. Keeping them both back helps prevent the big pass play over the top, but the best way to contain Jones is for a safety to provide run support in the box or cover him if he shifts to line up as a receiver.
It's not a simple choice.
"You go Cover-2, it kind of slims down the options for us (as receivers)," Adams said. "But on the flip side of that, it just allows for better running lanes, and if you do that with '33' out there, you're going to be in trouble.
"So I'd say we kind of balance each other out and keep these defenses honest."