Packers could be without key player in Week 1 vs. Vikings

The Green Bay Packers could be without wide receiver Allen Lazard in Week 1 versus the Minnesota Vikings.

With Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling gone, veteran wide receiver Allen Lazard is in line to be the Green Bay Packers‘ leading wide receiver this season.

However, the Packers could be without Lazard in Week 1 on the road against the division-rival Minnesota Vikings.

According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, Lazard wasn’t practicing on Monday, although it’s unclear what injury he is dealing with.

Head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t provide much of an update on whether Lazard would be ready to go in this weekend’s season opener.

We’ll get a clearer picture of things on Wednesday when the team has to release their first injury report of the week. Assuming Lazard is on the injury report, we’ll have a better understanding of whether he might be out this week.

If Lazard isn’t ready to play, the Packers would need to lean on veteran wide receivers Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins, who is making his Packers debut.

Perhaps it would also lead to an increase in snaps for rookie Romeo Doubs, who was a standout performer over the summer.

We didn’t see second-round pick Christian Watson in the preseason due to injury, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be available for Week 1. Even if he’s active, we can expect Watson to have a limited role given his lack of practice time over the summer.

Hopefully Lazard will be good to go this week. Until LaFleur provides more of an update, it’s a guessing game.

In the meantime, it would seem he is questionable to play versus the Vikings.

It means the Packers could enter this game with no Lazard and, of course, no Adams or Valdes-Scantling. The offense would feel very different from a year ago.