Packers place WR Davante Adams on reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of Cardinals game

Following the news that defensive coordinator Joe Barry tested positive for COVID-19, head coach Matt LaFleur stated in his press conference today that the Green Bay Packers were under “advanced COVID protocols” and that player-coach meetings on Monday were going to be held virtually to avoid the potential spread of the virus in their own building. Unfortunately, this would not be the Packers’ only COVID-related news of the day as the team placed star wide receiver Davante Adams on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Here is the Packers’ statement on the move:

Per agreed-upon NFL-NFLPA policy, clubs are not permitted to comment on a player’s medical status other than referring to roster status. Being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list is for a player who either tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been in close contact with an infected person or persons.

At this time, it has not been released if Adams has or has not tested positive for COVID, but he, like Barry, is vaccinated, meaning that he will need to pass two COVID tests with a negative result between now and Thursday to be able to suit up against the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. In regards to Barry’s situation, LaFleur said he wouldn’t “hold his breath” that Barry would be cleared before Thursday’s action.

Currently, Adams is third in the league with 744 receiving yards in 2021, becoming an even more go-to target for quarterback Aaron Rodgers after Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve after Week 3. MVS is eligible to return from IR now but has yet to start practicing with the team, which triggers the 21-day window for him to return to the 53-man roster.

At the moment, Adams has four times the receiving yardage (744) of the next highest Packers pass-catcher: running back Aaron Jones (186.) Only two other Green Bay receivers have cracked 100 season-long yards through seven Packers games this year: Allen Lazard (184) and Randall Cobb (179.)

One of the conditions of Rodgers returning to the Packers this season was that the team traded for his former teammate Cobb, who was then a Houston Texan. At no point more than now has Green Bay needed his snaps off the bench with the undefeated Cardinals on the horizon in a short-turnaround game that will likely decide playoff seeding in the NFC in some way, form, or fashion.