Lions look to contain struggling Packers WRs, again

Allen Park — The Lions did an excellent job covering Green Bay’s receivers in their 18-16 win over the Packers a few weeks ago.

And as quarterback Aaron Rodgers has struggled recently while the Packers have lost four of five games, Green Bay’s receivers have come under fire.

Obviously, the Packers miss Jordy Nelson, who had at least 1,200 receiving yards in three of the past four seasons, but the Lions don’t plan to take Green Bay’s receiving corps lightly Thursday night at Ford Field (8:25 p.m., CBS and NFL Network).

“Obviously, you can’t replace Jordy, but I still see talented guys,” Lions safety Glover Quin said.

James Jones is second in the NFL with a 19.7-yard average on his 30 catches, and he’s tied for seventh 14 plays of 20-plus yards. Randall Cobb is a dynamic playmaker who leads the Packers with 53 catches and 627 yards. Davante Adams is in his second season as a second-round pick and has been productive after dealing with injuries to start the year.

But, the consistency from the receivers, particularly Adams, just hasn’t been there. Adams led the Packers with 10 catches for 79 yards against the Lions in Week 10, but he needed 21 targets to amass that total.

Lions cornerback Darius Slay said Nevin Lawson’s experience against Adams in college — with Lawson at Utah State and Adams at Fresno State — helped Lawson limit the receiver a few weeks ago.

A big part of the Lions success against the Packers was playing mostly press coverage, but defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said that’s a risk-reward situation against a quarterback like Rodgers.

Meanwhile, Cobb is well behind his pace of 1,287 yards last season, and Packers receivers have struggled creating separation in recent games, though Quin said most receivers around the NFL don’t get much separation.

Yes, the Packers miss Nelson, but coach Mike McCarthy said his absence is not the reason the team is struggling.

“The way we built this football team, one player is not going to change the way a whole unit plays. So we need to do a better job with the 46 that we’re lining up with and that’s just the facts.”

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

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