What a difference seven weeks has made on Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s second season for the Green Bay Packers. In all the wrong ways.
The quick-footed wideout earned a starting role coming out of training camp and quickly put in quality work as the team’s No. 2 with 21 catches for 416 yards and two touchdowns through the first seven games of the season. He also put up a career-best performance of 133 receiving yards in Week 7’s win against Oakland, which featured a 74-yard scoring connection between him and Aaron Rodgers late in the game.
Then, Valdes-Scantling vanished within the Packers offense.
He has been thrown to just 10 times in the Packers’ last five games with just two catches for a total of 11 yards as Rodgers has relied more on others for deep-ball routes that are well suited for Valdes-Scantling’s skill set. The No. 2 role that once seemed meant for him now looks better on fellow second-year Allen Lazard, who is coming off a career game in last week’s win over the New York Giants.
“It’s one of those deals where we’ve moved Davante (Adams) back to the X position,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said Thursday of Valdes-Scantling’s decreased production. “We’re always searching for ways to get all of those guys on the field. I don’t think it’s necessarily anything Marquez has done. I think he’s done a nice job. Especially in practice, his urgency and intensity level has definitely picked up.”
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Taking Stock of Valdes-Scantling’s Recent Decline
While it makes sense Adams — who missed four games with a turf toe injury prior to returning Week 9 — would slide back into the alpha role at X, LaFleur’s words about Valdes-Scantling in practice could mean his urgency or intensity previously failed to meet standards.
There is also the under-the-radar matter of the knee and ankle injuries he suffered Week 6 against the Detroit Lions. While Valdes-Scantling hasn’t missed a game and has mostly remained off the weekly injury report, both LaFleur and wide receivers coach Alvis Whitted have talked about how the injuries have held him back throughout the season.
“Quite honestly, he’s been battling through some injuries,” Whitted said via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman heading into Week 11’s bye. “It’s the first time he’s had to go through some adversity like that as a player. I think it’s good for him to understand that this is the National Football League and you’re going to go through adversity as far as playing through stuff. He’s getting back to himself, and his practice habits are getting better every week.”
In fairness to Valdes-Scantling, the Packers offense has experienced problems as a whole at points during his rough stretch with just about nothing good coming from the unit in road losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and San Francisco 49ers. On a few of his limited looks, Rodgers has also underthrown him with good separation.
Valdes-Scantling still has time to make an impact down the stretch for the Packers with four games left in the regular season and an impending postseason promising at least one more game. But if he can’t earn back some trust in the system soon, starting this Sunday afternoon against the Washington Redskins, he risks being buried on the depth chart.
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Matt LaFleur Addresses Receiver’s Altered Role for Packers