GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Only one team in the NFL has zero targets to any receivers with three or more years of pro experience. That's because that team does not have a receiver with that kind of seniority.
And it's not an accident.
This was by design.
The roster that Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst assembled to help usher in the Jordan Love era at quarterback was one he thought would "grow together," as he put it shortly after the draft. And it still might. But seven games into a 2-5 season, the pains have outweighed the gains.
"I wouldn't really say it's been more difficult," Gutekunst said this week when asked whether the process has been more difficult than anticipated. "We haven't had the results we wanted, you know? We'd like the results to come fast, don't get me wrong. But at the same time, the things that they're going through are important, and they're going through them. How we come out the other side remains to be seen, but I have a lot of confidence in the group and the guys that are coaching them. I think we're all excited to see where we can go this last 10 games."
Heading into Sunday's game against the 3-5 Los Angeles Rams (1 p.m. ET, Fox), the Packers have a string of five straight games without a first-half touchdown, tied for the second-longest streak by any team in the past 10 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They have been outscored 73-9 and outgained by 513 yards in the first halves of those five games.
The 2-1 start to the season -- during which Love threw seven touchdowns against one interception despite struggling with his completion percentage -- now looks a little like a false promise. Since then, it's been hard to identify any progress.
"You've just got to measure it every day," Love said. "It's a process. I know it's a process. I know it's not going to be perfect right away. I try and focus on it day by day, making sure that I'm getting better, going in the right direction, learning from mistakes and just continue to grow as a player and as a leader of the team in every role. Just trying to get better every day, but it's definitely a process."
The connection that Love appeared to have built this offseason with second-year receiver Romeo Doubs hasn't taken hold. While Doubs leads the Packers with 27 catches, that doesn't rank among the NFL's top 40 in terms of receptions by receivers -- although his five touchdowns ranks tied for fifth among all receivers.
The deep threat that Christian Watson blossomed into late last season as a rookie hasn't carried over. Since Watson returned from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the first three games, he has had one only catch on a throw that traveled 20 or more yards in the air -- the 77-yarder against the Raiders when he got horse-collar tackled short of the end zone -- despite seven attempts. That's a 14.3% completion rate on such throws compared to 36.4% in the final nine games of last season with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The variety of ways that tight end Luke Musgrave got the ball during training camp offered promise that the rookie would make a big impact, but that too hasn't materialized.
There have been flashes from rookie receivers Jayden Reed (who has a team-high 314 yards receiving on 20 catches and a 15.7-yard average) and Dontayvion Wicks (10 catches for 140 yards), but Love has not found a go-to pass-catcher yet.
"That's kind of the makeup of our team right now is we have a lot of young guys, and that's the plan is to be able to build this thing and go in the right direction," Love said. "We all knew it was going to take time. ...
"Yeah, it's a little slower to start than we expected. Right now, it's about finding ways to get better every day and keep moving in the right direction."
It hasn't helped that the two most important veterans on offense -- left tackle David Bakhtiari and running back Aaron Jones -- haven't been able to help. Bakhtiari played in only the season opener and won't play the rest of the season because of his recurring knee problems. And Jones, who had 127 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns in the Week 1 win over the Bears before he pulled a hamstring, has been either out (he missed three games) or on a limited snap count that might finally come to an end on Sunday against the Rams.
Tuesday's trade deadline came and went without Gutekunst adding some help for Love. The only move he made was to trade cornerback Rasul Douglas and a 2024 fifth-round pick to the Bills for a third-rounder next year. The Packers began the week with the youngest active roster in the NFL at 25.7 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and that was before trading Douglas, who was one of only five players on the active roster age 29 or older.
When asked before the deadline whether he hoped Gutekunst would add a veteran to the offense, coach Matt LaFleur said: "That's not even a part of my thinking. My thinking is all about, just how do we get our guys to feel confident about what they're doing, going out there, playing fast, playing decisively, and executing?"
In that regard, LaFleur offered a prime example.
In Sunday's loss to the Vikings when Love connected with Reed for a 31-yard gain down the seam in the third quarter, there were mistakes on the play. LaFleur said the play called for Reed and Musgrave to run seam routes against a single-high safety look. As LaFleur explained, when facing one deep safety, the seam routes are supposed to be run on the inside edge of the painted numbers in order to make it harder for the lone safety to get to either one. Instead, they ran between the numbers and the hashmarks.
"It just condenses everything," LaFleur said. "Now, it was a successful play, and I know we are in the results business. However, our process wasn't right. So I think over time, that's going to lead to more poor results than it will be for one successful play. It's all those little details that are so important, that in my mind really separate good from great in this league."
When asked if a veteran receiver would have run that route more precisely, LaFleur said: "It depends on the guy."
"There's a joke around the league that when you run a wrong route -- and they ran the right route just not at the exact landmarks -- you end up getting the ball sometimes," said fourth-year tight end Josiah Deguara. "Stuff like that happens, but more often than not, it's not going to work out. So you've got to be on the little details. It all matters to the timing with the quarterback to the receivers and tight ends."
It's more glaring when plays end up busted. Like in the loss to the Raiders, when Musgrave ran the wrong route on a third-and-3 play that ended up as an incompletion, and in the next game against the Broncos, when Watson and Reed both ran to the same spot on a third-down pass that Love had to throw away.
That's where Deguara, the most senior member of the Packers' pass-catching group, has tried to help.
"I think that's a thing we've all got to do is make sure we're all on the details," Deguara said. "And if it's not happening, make sure we do it. Everyone's getting a lot better. We're growing as an offense. Obviously coming in as rookies, there's that learning curve, but they're all getting better every day and been making big plays on the field and getting better at doing it."