-
Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — There were no wild celebrations from Romeo Doubs after either of his touchdown catches in Sunday’s 34-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals, but the significance of that kind of bounce-back performance was not lost on the Green Bay Packers receiver.
It came a week after he was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team after he skipped two days of practice and failed to communicate with the team about his absence.
“I was able to get back to my regular self, you know?” Doubs said. “Despite what was going on, I just had to do the best of my ability, just limiting those distractions, and ultimately, it paid off.”
He also hoped his touchdown catches of 10 yards in the first quarter and 20 yards in the third quarter helped in the locker room, where players had to answers questions about Doubs for the last week.
“Yeah, man, so everybody in this locker room don’t get distracted, that’s all,” Doubs said.
While Doubs denied that he had issues with his role in the offense, Sunday’s game in which quarterback Jordan Love spread the ball around proved successful for the Packers (4-2). Love completed 22 of 33 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Doubs finished with three catches for 49 yards on a day when nine different players caught passes.
Doubs once again declined to discuss why he missed the two days of work and just as he did when he spoke to reporters Friday for the first time since his suspension, he spoke in hushed monotonous tones after the game.
However, this time, he finally cracked a smile.
“Yeah, I’m good, man,” Doubs said when asked if he’s happy. “I’m just ready to be a ballplayer, try to move past whatever has happened and just get back to our winning culture like Green Bay has always been.”
Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander said after the game that he predicted Doubs would catch two touchdowns, but it did not appear that coach Matt LaFleur or Love tried to force the ball to the third-year receiver. Doubs did not start the game and was not targeted on the first two series of the game. Doubs’ first catch, on the first play of the third series, went for 19 yards on a crossing route in which Love had plenty of time to throw.
“Yeah, he made some great plays,” LaFleur said. “Certainly the first reception he had was a 19-yarder over the middle, that doesn’t happen unless your O-line gives Jordan all day to make that throw.”
Doubs closed that drive with a 10-yard touchdown catch that he finished by diving into the end zone after breaking a tackle at the 2-yard line.
Fellow receivers Christian Watson and Jayden Reed were the first ones to greet Doubs in the end zone, and Love soon followed.
“We’re a family,” Love said when asked about Doubs after the game. “We’re in this thing all together. Just staying together, keeping that brotherhood is definitely very important to us.”
Doubs’ second touchdown in which Love faced a seven-man pressure and launched the ball off his back foot to Doubs in single coverage gave the Packers a 31-13 lead in the third quarter.
“Anything you go through, you’ve got to grow through it,” said Reed, who also caught a touchdown pass. “I’m proud of the way he played today. He played great today. Had some great energy out there. Yeah, he made some big plays for us. He was a part of our huge win. He was a huge piece of our win today.”
It was the second two-touchdown game of Doubs career, and they were his first two touchdowns of the season after he failed to find the end zone in the four games before his suspension.
“It was huge,” said Watson, who caught Love’s other touchdown pass on a 44-yard deep ball. “I mean we need every single piece that we have in that room. I think we’re all great receivers and we all excel at different things but we can all do anything in our eyes. So just to have him out there and have him making plays, I think that was really exciting and it’s going to be huge.”