Five wide receivers were among the 10 players that weren’t with the Green Bay Packers during OTAs on Tuesday.
Receivers Davante Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Allen Lazard, Equanimeous St. Brown and Devin Funchess did not attend the voluntary offseason workout session. They were joined by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, left tackle David Bakhtiari and cornerbacks Jaire Alexander, Ka’dar Hollman and Stanford Samuels.
Quarterback Blake Bortles was in attendance but did not participate.
Overall, 79 of the 89 players on the roster were at OTAs in some capacity, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
Adams, Valdes-Scantling, Lazard and St. Brown handled most of the snaps at receiver for the Packers last season, but coach Matt LaFleur did not believe it was a coordinated effort by the wide receivers to miss OTAs. The absences created more opportunities for rookie Amari Rodgers and the handful of other receivers on the roster, including Malik Taylor, Reggie Begelton and Juwann Winfree, three holdovers from last season.
It’s unclear why the five receivers weren’t available at OTAs, although it’s not hard to guess.
Adams, a first-team All-Pro in 2020, is entering the final year of his current contract. So are Valdes-Scantling, Lazard and Funchess, likely providing the individual incentives to miss OTAs and avoid a potentially significant injury. It’s possible Adams won’t show up for any of the offseason program unless he agrees to a new deal.
Funchess, who missed 15 games with injury during the 2019 season and opted out of the 2020 season, still hasn’t been on the field with the Packers.
Without Rodgers or Bortles, second-year quarterback Jordan Love and former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kurt Benkert handled all of the snaps at quarterback during the session.
LaFleur said the Packers are “progressing” Bortles through the transition process and are expecting him to participate at some point during the offseason workout program.
