GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson have the kind of connection that playcallers dream about. As a quarterback-receiver combination, no one has more touchdowns in Green Bay Packers history.
Last season, they broke the mark of 58 set by Brett Favre and Antonio Freeman, and reached 65 touchdowns before Rodgers broke his collarbone in Week 6 this season.
Enter Brett Hundley, who seems to have forged his own connection -- but not with Nelson. Since Hundley took over for Rodgers in the first half against Minnesota, he has made it clear that Davante Adams is his preferred target.
In parts of four games, including three starts, Hundley has two touchdown passes. Both went to Adams, including a 19-yard back-shoulder touchdown in Sunday's win at Chicago. It was a throw that was so perfectly placed it looked as if it came out of Rodgers' right hand.
Hundley and Adams followed it with a 42-yard deep ball down the sideline on a third-and-10 play that was a must-convert in the final minutes to keep the Bears' defense on the field and chew the clock.
"That's the type of play I've got to make to continue to build that trust with Brett and get him in a rhythm where he knows he can just let the ball go and he can trust his players to make plays," Adams said.
Said Hundley: "I trust Davante. He's an awesome receiver and he's going to be one of the best receivers, if he's not already, in the league. He's a heck of a playmaker, and that was what's called a trust throw. Get it up there, let him make a play and he did what he does best."
It's no wonder Hundley has relied heavily on Adams. He has thrown his way 30 times, compared to 24 for Nelson and 15 for Randall Cobb. To be sure, Adams had more targets from Rodgers in the first five-plus games, too: 38 to Cobb's 30 and Nelson's 29. But Nelson had six touchdowns in the first five games to four for Adams and one for Cobb.
With Hundley at the helm, Adams has a team-high 19 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Nelson and Cobb each have 13 catches for 118 and 153 yards, respectively, but no touchdowns.
"They're putting in the time, they're communicating," Nelson said of Hundley and Adams. "No different from what we have with Aaron over the years. These couple of weeks, you can see it improving. They're doing a great job. They made some big-time plays. The touchdown that Davante caught, that's not an easy catch. The [deep ball against the Bears], that's not easy, either. Again, those are plays that we probably missed out on the last couple of weeks."
Perhaps Hundley has a tighter connection with Adams because they had more practice reps together given that it wasn't until midway through last season that Adams emerged as one of their top receivers. In Adams' first couple of seasons, his rep count in practice with Hundley was probably higher than what Nelson and Cobb had with the backup quarterback.
"The live reps are what solidified the whole deal," Adams said. "But there's a lot of talking, a lot of game-planning, a lot of just drawing on the board or just talking on the way to meetings about certain routes. Just the small things like that and paying attention to it has led to the success we've had so far."
Don't be surprised if coach Mike McCarthy turns to even more plays that feature Adams as the No. 1 option.
"He's just a great receiver, and I like throwing to him," Hundley said. "We have a trio of receivers that I'm happy to be throwing to any of them. ... You couldn't ask for a better receiving core than that. So for me, I feel good with all of my matchups whenever."