GREEN BAY, Wis. -- In July, when NFL training camps are in their early stages, it's easy for receivers to say the right things about not needing the ball thrown their way play after play.
Remember, even Romeo Doubs sounded nonchalant about it last year at this time, yet a little more than a month into the season the Green Bay Packers suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team after he skipped two days of practice and meetings because he was reportedly unhappy with his role in the offense.
A year later, the Packers' receivers room hasn't gotten any less crowded. While Christian Watson won't be ready to start the season while still recovering from right ACL surgery in January, general manager Brian Gutekunst added a first-round pick (Matthew Golden, No. 23 overall) and a third-rounder (Savion Williams) into the mix.
Toss in Jayden Reed, the team's leading receiver the past two seasons, plus Dontayvion Wicks and Malik Heath returning from last season, and it's hard to fathom there's a way to keep all of them happy. And that's not even factoring in tight end Tucker Kraft, who was second to Reed in both catches and receiving yards last season.
However, coach Matt LaFleur might just have the answer.
"Winning," LaFleur said as training camp opened last week. "Hopefully winning will keep them all happy."
The Packers have not had a 1,000-yard receiver since 2021, when Davante Adams was the clear-cut No. 1 receiver. They haven't had a true go-to receiver since they traded him the following offseason.
A year ago, Reed looked like the next one. In fact, there was talk he could go for 100 catches in a season. He still managed a team-best 857 receiving yards, but he had only 55 catches -- nine fewer than his rookie season -- even though he played in every game before he sustained a right shoulder injury (dislocation and torn labrum) in the playoff loss to the Eagles. Following a two-touchdown game in Week 13 against the Dolphins, Reed did not have another touchdown catch and recorded only 11 catches over the final five regular-season games (including a zero-catch game in Week 14 against the Lions).
"Right now, it's about making sure everybody gets acclimated, that's definitely important just to get a rhythm and a chemistry with the quarterback," Reed said. "I think that's very important to get touches and to get targets so it translates to Sunday. Yes, it is tough with all the guys we have, so we've just got to come out here, and it's going to happen how it's supposed to happen."
That sounds much like Doubs almost exactly a year ago, when he said: "It's a lot of talent in our room. I think it's selfish on my end to have goals because if I come up short, I'm not thinking about the team, I'm thinking about myself."
A year later, Doubs again claims he's taking the same approach.
"I'm going to be real with you, I have no goals going into this year," Doubs said. "I think this league is day-to-day league, and there is a process within that, so that is my main focus."
Complicating matters is that Doubs and Watson are entering the final seasons of their rookie contracts. Watson, who tore his right ACL in the regular-season finale, is not expected to play before November.
"Obviously I want to play in as many games as possible," Watson said. "I hope it's all of them, but I've got to take it as it is. Whether it's 15 games or five games, I feel like as long as I'm able to go out there and just prove that I am what I was before the injury and be me, that the rest is going to take care of itself. That's been my mentality. I've just got to get back to being me and the rest will take care of itself."
The Packers' offensive coaches have also stressed the desire to get Kraft more touches. In addition to being second only to Reed in catches (50) and receiving yards (707), he caught a team-high seven touchdowns last season.
"I don't think the coaches care about keeping us happy," Kraft said. "The coaches care about winning games. There is no agenda. They're going to put the best players on the field. They're going to call the plays to get the best players the ball, and I think it's that simple."
Then there's the issue of dropped passes. The Packers had the highest drop rate in the NFL last season, according to ESPN Research. Wicks had a league-high 10 drops, Reed was tied for third with eight and Doubs was tied for 16th with five.
Even Reed admitted it's hard to demand the ball when you're not catching it as often as you should.
"You can't make plays without the ball, so I think that's very important," Reed said. "It was even an emphasis last year, even though it happened. You can't control what happens, but you can control how you respond. Yeah, I'm feeling good. It was rough at the end."
Perhaps the Packers haven't had a true No. 1 receiver in a while because they haven't invested in one. Golden became their first first-round receiver since the 2002 draft (Javon Walker). While Golden has looked the part so far, it might be hard for a rookie to ascend to the No. 1 spot right away.
"The beauty of our offense is you really don't know necessarily who's going to get the ball, and I think it really frees up the quarterback," LaFleur said. "He doesn't have to feel that pressure [of], 'Oh I got to get this guy the ball,' and it's really on us as a staff to try to move these guys around and showcase what they can do."
LaFleur isn't concerned about it becoming an issue this year.
"They're high character guys that I think just want to go to work," LaFleur said. "And we'll have a lot of time to game plan to get more specific with them. Right now, we're just trying to install, really, every phase of our game plan and let it happen organically over time."
And that's easy to say in July.