Toure’s Ready Because He Stayed Ready

As a rookie last year, Green Bay Packers receiver Samori Toure was nicknamed Captain Casual. This year, he was one of the most-hyped players of the offseason.

After earning a key role to start the season, Toure faded into the background to such an extent that he was a gameday inactive four times in a span of five weeks. On Monday night against the Giants, however, Toure played 18 snaps. That’s more than the previous eight games combined.

“It’s frustrating but, at the end of the day, it’s just about never get too high, never get too low and just be a pro about everything,” Toure said. “At the end of the day, just support your team, you know? I just want us to be a great team. I love supporting my guys. I love seeing other wideouts make plays. It’s a team game and I’m just here to do whatever I need to make the team better.”

With Christian Watson inactive and Dontayvion Wicks dropping out with an ankle injury, Toure caught 2-of-4 targets against the Giants. The two completions gained 22 yards. The two incompletions would have been touchdowns had Jordan Love’s passes been on the money.

“It felt good being out there,” Toure said. “You know, definitely lost a little sleep over those plays, just inches away. But I was happy to be out there.”

Toure played 88 snaps in the first four weeks of the season. However, after catching one pass for 35 yards against Detroit in Week 4, Toure caught just one pass between Game 5 against Las Vegas and Game 12 against Kansas City.

It would have been easy for negativity to infect Toure’s mindset and impact his preparation as he worked behind fellow 2022 draft picks Watson and Romeo Doubs, 2023 draft picks Jayden Reed and Wicks and even 2023 undrafted rookie Malik Heath.

But Toure stayed positive and stayed in it mentally. As coaches and players like to say, you don’t have to get ready if you stay ready. So, when he was thrust into a key role against the Giants, he was thoroughly prepared.

“Just always stay ready, always be a pro,” Toure said. “Sometimes, I don’t know whether I’m going to be up or not in a week, but I always prepare as if I’m going to play. So, you just stay ready.”

Having seen how Toure works at practice, Love was comfortable throwing his way in key moments against the Giants.

“I think that’s the toughest position to be in,” Love said. “Throughout the week, you’ve got to do a good job of staying locked in, understanding your job. Obviously, it’s one of those game-time decisions whether you’re going to be out there, be active or not.

“I think Samori has handled it like a pro. He’s been doing a good job about that. Just staying locked in throughout the week, understanding he might get an opportunity, he might not. He did a good job Monday. When he had the opportunity, he made some big-time plays. Obviously, I missed him on that one in the end zone; I think we had a touchdown right there. He’s done a really good job. It’s not an easy situation to be in and he’s handled it well.”

Watson, who probably will miss another game with a hamstring injury, has been impressed, as well.

“He attacks every single day like he’s going to be going [in the game],” he said. “You can definitely tell that it’s not the situation that he probably would like to be in, but, at the end of the day, he goes out there and has fun every single day and has a positive mindset. You can tell he still loves football and he’s definitely embraced his role. I think that he has the right mentality about it.”

Toure could have a featured role on Sunday against Tampa Bay. While Watson is happy with his progress, he is unlikely to play. Wicks, while officially limited participation on Thursday, didn’t run any routes while reporters were present.

Thus, a typical week’s worth of preparation for Toure could turn into an atypical number of reps in the game.

“You never know how it’s going to go until the game comes,” Toure said. “I never want to pray on any injuries for my guys but, like you said before, I’m always going to be ready, no matter what. The coaches know that. So, it’s just about preparing the right way and being able to step up when your number is called.”