The Green Bay Packers announced on Monday that superstar wide receiver Davante Adams has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
#Packers place WR Davante Adams on reserve/COVID-19 list https://t.co/WqEA0eR0fs
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 25, 2021
The reserve/COVID-19 list is for players that either test positive for COVID-19 or in close contact with somebody that has. And this news comes after it was announced earlier in the day that Green Bay defensive coordinator Joe Barry tested positive for COVID-19, which sent the Packers into advanced COVID protocols mode.
#Packers coach Matt LaFleur tells reporters the team is in advanced COVID-19 protocols because of potential spread related to DC Joe Barry’s positive COVID-19 test. All meetings are virtual, players are wearing masks. Short week, so any positive test knocks a player/coach out.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 25, 2021
So, it’s very possible that this could be an outbreak that leads to more players and staff members being put on the COVID list.
#Packers will keep their fingers crossed that no one else lands on the COVID-19 list. Because they are in the "advanced protocol" everyone gets tested daily, so each day they will know if someone else has tested positive, including coaches.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) October 25, 2021
Additionally, it’s a short week for the Packers; they play the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football in Glendale. That obviously will make it difficult for Adams to be able to play, and Packers beat writer Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that we can “assume” Adams won’t play. Silverstein notes that Adams is vaccinated, so the wide receiver wouldn’t go on the COVID list for close-contact reasons. Adams would have to test negative twice, 24 hours apart, to be activated from the COVID list.
So, you can assume that #Packers WR Davante Adams won't play vs. the #Cardinals. Adams has said he is vaccinated, so he would not be sidelined if he were a close contact. Testing positive means he can return when he tests negative twice 24 hours apart. Not likely before Thursday.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) October 25, 2021
The absence of Adams would be a massive loss for Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in a clash between two NFC heavyweights.
The Cardinals are the NFL’s only undefeated team at 7-0 and have scored at least 31 points in all but one game. Kyler Murray is playing like an MVP in his third season.
The Packers will need to keep up with the Cardinals in a shootout, so losing Rodgers’ favorite and most explosive target — by a lot on both counts — is significant. Adams has 52 receptions for 744 yards and three touchdowns. He’s so valuable that the betting line has already moved 2.5 points in favor of the Cardinals (from -3.5 to -6).
Wow.. Davante Adams being ruled out changed the @packers line from +3.5 to +6…
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) October 25, 2021
Without Adams, it could lead to an increase in targets for Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Robert Tonyan.
Update: Nevermind on Lazard.
#Packers place WR Allen Lazard on reserve/COVID-19 list https://t.co/JgyLb8EgCg
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 26, 2021
