“Cool, calm and collected.” That’s how Green Bay Packers receivers coach Jason Vrable described the first NFL start for rookie Romeo Doubs on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Doubs, who was named NFL Rookie of the Week for Week 3, caught eight passes on eight targets for 73 yards and a touchdown during the Packers’ 14-12 win.
Vrable said Doubs received a high grade internally for the performance.
“He graded out really well,” Vrable said. “I don’t think the stage was too big for him on any of the plays. He wasn’t nervous. He’s cool, calm and collected. That’s how he plays out there. He loves ball.”
Vrable said Doubs wasn’t perfect on a few releases off the line of scrimmage, but just about everything else was up to the team’s very high standard at receiver.
“He lost a couple of press releases, had maybe had one mental mistake. Other than that, he graded out extremely well for his first start…he did an awesome job, man.”
Doubs started and played 55 snaps. Vrable said Doubs is well-conditioned and handled the heat in Tampa with little problem.
The Packers haven’t been surprised because they know how much Doubs cares about the game and improving individually.
“This kid truly loves football above everything else,” Vrable said. “He’s a workaholic. I told him when he got here, you can be as good as you want to be. You have the talent. How good do you want to be? Let’s go do it. He’s very coachable. It’s going to be cool to watch him see where he goes this season.”
The obvious next steps are continuing to get better off the line and making sure he’s always on the same page with quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a down-to-down basis.
From there, the natural talent can take over.
The combination of ability and work ethic would appear to give Doubs a high chance of becoming an impact player. Vrable said Doubs often goes to the team’s indoor practice facility with an equipment manager to catch passes on the JUGS machine.
“I told him,” Vrable said, “it was only a matter of time before you start climbing.”
That climb took its biggest step Sunday in Tampa, but the trek to becoming an elite player in the NFL is just beginning for Doubs.
