CARSON, Calif. – After a month-long layoff due to a turf toe injury, Davante Adams finally made his long-awaited return for the Packers' lineup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Working on a slight rep count, the two-time Pro Bowl receiver caught a team-high seven passes against the Chargers for 41 yards in his first action since catching 10 passes for 180 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 26.
"It felt good to be out there with squad, obviously," Adams said. "It had been a long time. It wasn't the product that we wanted to put out there but it was good to get back out there."
Adams felt good about his chances of playing Sunday, but an official decision wasn't made until he spoke with the team's training staff and doctors on Sunday morning.
Although Adams won't go as far as to label the injury as "100 percent normal" quite yet, he said it has healed properly. The issue now is merely "fighting through some of the uncomfortable stuff."
The sixth-year receiver started Sunday's game but occasionally rotated out with Geronimo Allison, Allen Lazard and Jake Kumerow also seeing extensive playing time against the Chargers.
"We wanted to manage my snap count and make sure I wasn't too exhausted or exhausted my foot, either," Adams said. "Just we just wanted to be smart about it. I felt like the coaches did a good job of managing that, and we'll see how we go moving forward."
There was obvious disappointment in Sunday's loss, the Packers' first since the Eagles game in which Adams was injured, but the return of the veteran receiver did provide an uptick in the locker room.
Running back Jamaal Williams understood what it took for Adams to get back on the field and appreciated how his teammate pushed through some discomfort to start Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers traveled to California to take on the Los Angeles Chargers in a Week 9 matchup.
"He keeps everything the same," Williams said. "He's always ready to go no matter what percentage he is. His 70 is better than a lot of people's 100. He's a special type of player."
Disappointed in the result and the offense's inability to string drives together, Adams admitted the Packers looked "sluggish" in the 26-11 loss to the Chargers. With no apparent setbacks, Adams looks to take a step forward with the offense when the Packers return home to Lambeau Field next Sunday.
"It can (linger), but you've just got to take a look at what it is, why you didn't perform well," Adams said. "We've been doing really good all year, so it's nothing that should derail us (or) have us panicking. But I feel like there's definitely some things that we've got to look at this week that we put on tape that's not really our brand of football. So yeah, we've got to get back to it."
Fighting to the end: Despite the low probability of a comeback, running back Jamaal Williams pushed and plowed for every available yard during the Packers' late nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
After bulldozing his way to a first down through two would-be tackles in the red zone on second-and-5, Williams scrambled into the Chargers' end zone on an extended play to catch a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Aaron Rodgers with 6 minutes, 27 seconds remaining.
With the touchdown, Williams became the first Packers running back since Ahman Green in 2003 to catch a touchdown pass in four consecutive games.
"Just pride, pride for your teammates," said Williams of his demeanor late in Sunday's game. "Let them know no matter what the score is and what's happened you're going to fight for them. That's just what it is. Keep playing for each other."
Sun and the secondary: Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers made few mistakes on Sunday but gave the Packers' defense one chance at a takeaway when he missed Keenan Allen deep in the second quarter.
It looked as though Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander had a chance at a possible interception but the sun presented a few problems on a cloudless afternoon at Dignity Health Sports Park.
"Lost it in the sun again," said Alexander, who missed out on a pick earlier this season under similar circumstances. "It's one of those things with the sun beaming."
Across from Alexander, the Packers platooned Tony Brown with Kevin King at the other perimeter cornerback spot. King, who has been dealing with a groin injury, was on a rep count.
