Romeo

Doubs

Doubs, who missed Week 5 after being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, came back in a big way against Arizona, catching two red zone touchdowns from Jordan Love. Doubs, Jayden Reed, and Christian Watson caught touchdowns from Love with Dontayvion Wicks sidelined with a shoulder injury. Doubs is unlikely to ever see much target volume in the Green Bay offense, but his role as a trusted red zone target gives him as much upside as any Packers wideout not named Jayden Reed. The Packers take on the Texans in Week 7.

Doubs was suspended for Week 5 for “conduct detrimental to the team” that reportedly stemmed from his decision to intentionally miss practice last week. Doubs reportedly met with the team on Monday to sort matters out, and will likely play in Week 6 against the Cardinals if all goes well. Doubs has started every game for the Packers this season and drew eight targets in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Vikings. We’ll see if he retains his starting role following last week’s suspension.

LaFleur was asked about the impact Doubs’ suspension had on the team and whether he expects Doubs to return for Week 6. LaFluer began by saying he is “looking forward to our conversation tomorrow. So, I fully anticipate him coming back,” before clarifying, “I’m hopeful that he’ll come back and get ready to work.” LaFleur then complimented the team’s response to the Doubs-related turbulence, saying “Distractions happen in the National Football League... and you’ve gotta do your best to just focus on the task at hand—and I thought our guys did a pretty good job of that.” While the scheduled meeting is a positive, this issue has yet to be fully resolved.

Speaking Saturday, Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said “Unfortunately, we had to make the difficult decision to suspend Romeo for this week’s game. His decisions and actions during the week negatively impacted the team and required us to take this action.” Doubs, unhappy with his current role in the offense, skipped practice on Wednesday and Thursday and was sent to the suspended list for “conduct detrimental to the team.” There is no telling how this situation will ultimately pan out, but a key player intentionally missing practice during the season does not bode well for Doubs’ chances of increasing his involvement in the offense moving forward.

Doubs missed practice Thursday and Friday with what the team called personal reasons, but according to sources he’s unhappy with his role in the offense. It’s a surprising development as Doubs leads Packers wide receivers in snaps this year and he’s had 15 targets in the two games with Jordan Love under center. Doubs removing any mention of the Packers from his Instagram account seems to confirm his frustration. With Doubs and Christian Walker (ankle) both listed as doubtful for Week 5 against the Rams, the Packers’ wide receiver group is thinning. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks are priority starts against Los Angeles on Sunday.

Doubs missed Thursday and Friday practices with the undisclosed personal issue. The Packers are now likely without two of their top three WRs with Christian Watson (ankle) also doubtful after failing to practice all week. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks should be in Week 5 fantasy lineups against the Rams’ lackluster pass defense.

The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman reports, Matt LaFleur said “I would hope so,” when asked if Doubs will return to practice on Friday. Regarding Doubs’ Sunday availability for the Packers’ Week 5 game against the Rams, LaFleur said “I don’t know. We’ll take it one day at a time.” It’s possible this is just LaFleur playing coy but Doubs’ status now deserves monitoring. We will provide updates as soon as possible.

The eight targets were a new season high, and three more than Doubs drew combined during Jordan Love’s two-game absence. It is worth noting Christian Watson departed with an ugly second quarter ankle injury. Doubs was also tackled at the Vikings’ one-yard line late in the second quarter. Even were Watson to miss extended time, Doubs isn’t looking like a legitimate WR3 at the moment.

With Malik Willis at quarterback, the Packers are simply not having to throw the ball that often. However, the team is also scheming up touches for Christian Watson and Jayden Reed in a way they aren’t for Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks. Doubs should be on the wire in shallow formats, but since Jordan Love should return in Week 4, if you’re in deeper formats you can hold Doubs for one more week just to be sure.

Doubs’ three receptions constituted 25 percent of the team’s catches on the day. Malik Willis found Doubs down the sideline for his biggest completion of the game — a 40-yard floater that looked to be an interception before Doubs skied and snatched the ball from the defender. Doubs, who in Week 1 led the Packers with seven targets, won’t be a reliable fantasy play until Jordan Love returns, perhaps in Week 5.