GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard underwent surgery for a core muscle injury this week and is out indefinitely, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Packers could be heading into their Monday Night Football game against the Atlanta Falcons without their two top receivers, as Davante Adams said Thursday he still doesn’t know if he’ll be available to play. Adams did not play Sunday after missing practice all last week because of a hamstring injury.
Lazard set career highs in Adams’ absence in Sunday’s win over the Saints, recording six receptions for 146 yards. Lazard finished the game and gave no indication that he was injured when speaking to reporters, but he did not practice Thursday with what the team called a core muscle injury. Adams practiced on a limited basis Thursday.
The Packers have three other receivers on their active roster: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Malik Taylor and Darrius Shepherd (who was signed off the practice squad last week).
“I will be making sure I feel normal — like before it happened — before I step out there,” Adams said Thursday. “So we’re doing our thing to make sure that that’s the case.”
Last week, the Packers gave Adams all the way up until game time before ruling him out. “That was the plan all week long was to get a good feel to see how I felt come pregame, just to give me all the time I needed and came to the conclusion that I wasn’t quite ready yet,” Adams said. “It was close. I felt good, but I wanted to be as smart as possible so we decided to hold off on that.”
Valdes-Scantling had seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown in the first two games combined but caught just one pass for 5 yards in Week 3. Neither Taylor nor Shepherd has a reception this season. Both were primarily practice-squad players last season, although Shepherd appeared in six games.
Another receiver, Equanimeous St. Brown, was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 19 because of a knee injury and isn’t eligible to return until after next week’s bye. The Packers signed two receivers to their practice squad this week: Caleb Scott and Juwann Winfree, joining another receiver on the practice squad in Robert Foster.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers raved about Shepherd’s improvement on Thursday.
“He was as productive as just about anybody in camp, and I really like his approach,” Rodgers said. “He’s the one who’s always in Davante’s ear, listening to what he’s talking about. Damn near every time I come in the Hutson Center during training camp when we’re starting practice, I walk in and do the same thing, put my helmet down. And Shep is picking Davante’s brain about releases and certain things.
“And look, I try and pay attention as much as I possibly can, but that sticks with you. That impacts you. You’re seeing just that desire to improve and get better. And then you see it on the field. You see him consistently using those releases, making plays and I’m really proud of him, just sticking with it, getting activated to the roster and I do have a lot of trust in him.”