GREEN BAY – In a game of rapid swings, Jayden Reed might have been the most consistent player on the field for either the Packers or Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon.
Penalties, turnovers and missed opportunities plagued Green Bay during its 31-29 loss to the Vikings, but Reed was the playmaker the Packers needed him to be from beginning till end.
The second-year receiver caught seven of eight targets for a career-high 139 yards, including the Packers' first touchdown with 15 seconds left in the first half.
Reed singlehandedly was responsible for five of Green Bay's 10 longest plays against Minnesota, critical production for an offense that played without Christian Watson after the third-year wideout left with an ankle injury at the end of the first quarter.
"That's just a credit to Jayden," tight end Tucker Kraft said. "J-Reed shows up to practice every single day and he practices like it's a game. I have so many positive things to say about J-Reed and his playstyle. Last two weeks, prior to this game, everyone was out there blocking their asses off and we flipped the script, and he gets 130 receiving yards and a touchdown."
Starting quarterback Jordan Love returned Sunday after missing two games with a knee injury, but the Packers still got off to a rather slow start in all three phases.
Reed provided a spark to put Green Bay in scoring position on its opening drive with a 24-yard catch. The drive stalled at the Minnesota 14, though, and produced no points after kicker Brayden Narveson's 37-yard field goal hit the right upright.
The Packers were down 28-0 with less than a minute left in the first half when Vikings punt returner Jalen Nailor muffed Daniel Whelan's booming 74-yard punt, which Bo Melton recovered at the Minnesota 3.
Matt LaFleur was issued an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the game's seven officials missed the Packers' head coach attempting to call a timeout. Reed picked his coach up, though, when he caught a 15-yard TD pass with 15 seconds left to put Green Bay on the board.
Even when things weren't looking good, Reed was focused on a comeback.
"It's all a mindset, man," said Reed, who set his previous career high of 138 receiving yards in Brazil earlier this month. "The game ain't over until zeros are on the clock for four quarters. I don't have any doubt or quit in my mind. Whatever the score is, I'm gonna keep fighting until the end."
The Packers' defense allowed one field goal in the second half, while turning over the Vikings twice more. It allowed Green Bay's offense to find its bearings during a 314-yard second half.
Reed contributed 92 yards on four second-half catches. His 12-yard reception at the end of the third quarter began an 11-play, 89-yard touchdown drive to start the fourth quarter.
After Green Bay stuffed Nailor on a fourth-and-1 carry at the Packers' 4-yard line, Reed hauled in back-to-back receptions of 21 and 42 yards to highlight a five-play, 96-yard series that ended with a 17-yard TD pass to Dontayvion Wicks.
"He's explosive," said running back Josh Jacobs of Reed. "I feel like all those receivers are explosive. They all got that mentality that any play can be the one. You can see that. When there were opportunities to make them, we made them. We just fell short today."
Green Bay's comeback hopes ended as Whelan's onside attempt off a drop-kick was recovered by the Vikings. As disappointing as the outcome was, Reed again showed how he can take over a football game.
While back in sync with the returning Love, Reed walked away from Sunday's defeat feeling the need for the offense "to start faster." To hear his teammates tell it, however, the 5-foot-11, 187-pound receiver did everything he could to spark his unit.
The Packers finished with four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble), 4-of-12 on third downs and racked up five of their eight penalties (totaling 68 yards) in the first quarter.
"We just had so many circumstances where we're playing behind the sticks and we weren't able to call our plays to stay in rhythm," Kraft said. "He probably could've had even more had we been playing complementary football."
