Health will play important role in Packers offense turning things around

There are a myriad of reasons why the Green Bay Packers offense has been sputtering this season, but one factor that can’t be overlooked is their health–or lack thereof.

For a receiver position that already had a number of question marks before entering the season, the Packers have routinely been without one or two of their veteran pass catchers each week. In fact, Week 2 against Chicago is the only time this season that Sammy Watkins, Allen Lazard, and Randall Cobb have all shared the field together.

Over the summer, Aaron Rodgers mentioned that those three players were going to be who Green Bay leaned on at the receiver position — at least to start the season — however, that hasn’t been the case with Lazard and Cobb each missing two games (and counting) along with Watkins missing four.

This has led to Green Bay having to lean on their rookie receivers more, which at times has resulted in wrong routes and releases being ran, a lack of route adjustments, and dropped passes.

The Packers have also been without a true deep threat as Christian Watson has battled injuries of his own. The offense’s inability to push the ball downfield has been one of the bigger issues this season for them and created a trickle-down effect of problems elsewhere.

Green Bay currently ranks 22nd in passing yards per game and 26th in points.

With all of that said, this isn’t to say that this offense would be firing on all cylinders without these injuries, but it’s fair to assume the Packers would be better off if they consistently had their veterans available and Watson’s speed to help open the passing game up. I’m also a firm believer that the rookie receivers need more opportunities, as each brings that needed big play ability.

It’s also not just the receiver position dealing with injuries but the offensive line as well. Between David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins still battling injuries, along with Royce Newman’s poor play, the Packers have utilized six different offensive line combinations through eight games this season. For some context, during the 2021 season, where the Packers also battled injuries upfront, they used seven configurations the entire year–which is still a lot.

Naturally, with this much movement, the play from this group has been up and down. Overall, the Packers rank right in the middle at 15th in pressures allowed and 21st in ESPN’s run-block win rate metric. Matt LaFleur has had to gameplan around this unit, which has impacted the playbook as Green Bay leans heavily on the quick passing game along with tight end chips while also abandoning the run at times and not utilizing play-action enough.

"“I do feel like we need to get healthy, said Rodgers on Wednesday via Packers.com. “When we are at our full strength, which we really haven’t been this season, whether it’s been Dave not playing early in the season or Elgton not playing early in the season, we haven’t really had the 11 that we thought we were going to play with for extended time. So when we get those guys, I feel like we have the team to get it done.”"

Simply getting healthy won’t automatically turn things around for the Packers, and injuries aren’t an excuse for their poor play either–it’s the NFL; every team deals with injuries. However, continuity along the offensive line and Rodgers having his trio of trusted targets available should make things easier.

"“We have to hopefully get 9 (Watson) and 13 (Lazard) back this week, Cobby in a couple more weeks, we’re hopeful that both Elgton and Dave will be able to go, and there’s no surprises on game day,” said Rodgers. “And I think that squad when you put that together, we can win some football games with those guys. I think that’s what we’re hoping for, just to get a little bit healthier, and then everybody play a little bit better.”"