Packers Suspend Romeo Doubs for Skipping Practices

Standout third-year receiver Romeo Doubs will not be in the lineup for the Green Bay Packers’ game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs catches a pass against Indianapolis Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones on Sept. 15. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have suspended receiver Romeo Doubs for Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Rams after skipping practices on Thursday and Friday this week.

“Unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to suspend Romeo for this week's game,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said in a statement. “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.”

Because he didn’t practice on Thursday and Friday, coach Matt LaFleur listed him as doubtful for the game on Friday afternoon. Instead, he will not travel with the team.

“It’s still day to day,” LaFleur said after Friday’s practice.

Doubs practiced on Wednesday but didn’t show up to Lambeau Field for practice or meetings on Thursday.

After that practice, LaFleur said “I would hope so” when asked if Doubs would practice on Friday. Doubs, however, decided not to practice on Friday, either, which forced the team into its decision.

It’s been a quiet start to the season for Doubs, especially in light of how he dominated playoff matchups against the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

After looking like a potential star in January, his limited role in September was the root of Doubs’ frustration, sources told Packers On SI.

Doubs’ role hasn’t been overly limited, though. Through four games, he is third on the team with 20 targets. Only Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, with 22 apiece, have more than Doubs. Fellow receiver Christian Watson, who is not expected to play against the Rams because of an ankle injury, has only eight.

In the 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Wicks had 13 targets – tied for the most during the Jordan Love era – tight end Tucker Kraft had nine and Doubs and Reed had eight apiece.

Last season, Doubs finished with a team-high 96 targets – two more than Reed and far distant from Wicks (58) and Watson (53), who were third and fourth.

With five targets per game to start this season, Doubs is on pace for 85, which isn’t too far off last year’s number. Of course, the Packers played two of those games without Love. In his place, Malik Willis threw a total of 33 passes in victories over the Colts and Titans.

The lack of passing attempts in those games goes a long way toward explaining the overall downturn in targets for Doubs.

With Watson sidelined by an ankle injury, Doubs probably would have been in line for more opportunities in this week’s game plan. However, Doubs wasn’t present to practice that game plan.

So, the Packers will line up against the Rams with Reed, Wicks, Bo Melton and Malik Heath as receivers from the 53-man roster.

“I think all those guys are ready to roll,” LaFleur said. “They’re looking forward to going out there and playing a big part of our offense.”

There are two healthy receivers on the practice squad. Rookie Julian Hicks, who was with the team from Day 1 of the offseason through the end of the preseason, would be the logical choice to be elevated to the gameday roster if the Packers want to take five to Los Angeles. The other healthy receiver, Cornelius Johnson, signed on Sept. 18.

In his sixth season as coach, LaFleur hasn’t had to deal with too many delicate situations outside of the annual drama revolving around former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and last year’s suspension of cornerback Jaire Alexander.

Now, he’s got to manage the desires of an important and talented player, Doubs, with the greater good of a youngest-in-the-league roster whose strength is in the overall talent and not a few singular stars.

One of the strengths of the offense last year during its run to the playoffs was the all-for-one, one-for-all mindset of the receiver corps. The youngest group in the NFL was also one of the league’s deepest and most talented. Everyone seemed to understand that one receiver might be featured one game and another receiver might be featured the next.

Now that Doubs, Watson, Reed and Wicks had all shown they could be game-changing weapons, how would the group maintain that team-first mentality?

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft (85) celebrates his two-point conversion with Romeo Doubs (87) against the Vikings. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Just being there for each other,” Doubs said during training camp. “The answer’s real simple. If anybody’s ego gets in the way, we know better. That’s just not how the game is. You stay poised and keep each other up and play ball how we’re supposed to.”

The answer might have been “real simple,” but would it easier to say than it would be to accomplish?

“I believe that we have that buy-in,” he said. “We have a really, really good receiver room and our goal is to play ball and just be there for each other.”

Jason Vrable, the team’s passing-game coordinator, was asked during training camp about managing the egos of a group of players who want the ball and havve proven they can help win games.

“You want guys who ultimately want the ball but, when we talk about it in our room, to be a successful offense you need to stay on the field,” Vrable said during camp. “By doing your job at a high level, you could be open all the time. If you’re opening up for your brother and we can convert third downs, you’re going to get more opps in the game.

“Eventually when you’re a good player and you’re playing at a high level and you block so we can move the chains, you run off so another guy can run an out route, that’s how you become a good offense in this league. So when you show the tape over and over again of what great offenses look like, whether here in the past or other teams, the players got to buy in to understand the big picture.”

Last year, Reed led the team with 64 receptions as a rookie and Doubs was next with 59. Doubs and Reed tied for No. 1 with eight touchdown catches, and Doubs ranked among the NFL leaders with seven touchdowns in the red zone.

Doubs has not scored a touchdown this season. In the red zone, he’s been targeted on three of the quarterbacks’ 21 passes. That’s a target rate of 14.3 percent. Last year, it was 18.0 percent.

Doubs and Watson are in their third seasons. While perhaps not at the forefront of their minds, second contracts are on the horizon, whether it’s an in-season extension next year or in free agency after next season. While the tape’s the tape, numbers equate to dollars.

Six receivers are making at least $30 million per season and 23 receivers are making at least $20 million per season. None of those players are 800-yard receivers with one career 100-yard game on the resume.

After two superb playoff games against the Cowboys and 49ers to end last season – his first career 100-yard game came at Dallas – and a strong training camp, the stage seemingly was set for Doubs to at least take a step toward stardom. However, heading into Sunday’s game, Doubs has caught 12 passes for 169 yards and zero touchdowns. That’s a 17-game pace of 51 receptions for 718 yards.

Reed, meanwhile, might be the team’s next star receiver. He entered Week 4 ranked sixth in the NFL in receiving yards. With two touchdowns last week, Wicks is tied for fourth with three touchdown catches.

“My opinion is the ball finds good energy,” Reed said during training camp. “If you support your teammates and your teammates support you, if you’ve got a good group that all care for each other that want each other to do great, everybody’s going to eat. That’s how I look at it.

“The ball is always going to find the good energy. I don’t care if I had zero catches for three weeks straight. If we’re winning, I’m happy. That’s just my mindset.”

Packers running back Josh Jacobs, who’s still looking for his first touchdown with the team, had 32 touches in the Week 2 victory over the Colts. The last two weeks, he had 15 touches against the Titans 13 against the Vikings.

He wasn’t upset, though. Rather, it’s just part of the game and the ebbs and flows of a season, he said on Friday.

“For me, personally, I’ve played a lot of football. I know how things go,” he said. “It might be a few weeks where you don’t see it and then there might be one game where you get three (touchdowns) in a game. It’s kind of the flow of the league.”

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