Packers have shut down tight ends, but face challenge in Redskins’ Jordan Reed

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Although the Green Bay Packers have held their own against tight ends in recent games, they know that the Washington Redskins’ Jordan Reed will provide a challenge on Sunday in the teams’ first-round playoff game.

“He’s a talented athlete,” inside linebacker Clay Matthews said. “He looks like a receiver who’s playing the tight end position. He’s definitely a guy that we have to keep an eye on in the pass game.”

Kyle Rudolph caught six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown in the Minnesota Vikings’ 30-13 victory on Nov. 22, but was held without a catch when the teams met again last Sunday.

Jason Witten had five catches for 40 yards, both team highs, in the Dallas Cowboys’ loss to the Packers on Dec. 13, and the week before, and Zach Miller had just two catches for 10 yards, though one was a three-yard touchdown reception, in the Chicago Bears’ loss to the Packers on Nov. 26.

“I don’t really know the stats, but I feel like other than the few plays here and there, we’ve done a pretty good job,” said Packers cornerback Micah Hyde, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “We take pride in going against those guys. Obviously, they’re bigger than us, and some are stronger than us, and so we have to stop them from getting the ball. We have to accept that challenge.”

Few players enter the postseason hotter than Reed, who led the Redskins with 87 catches for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns, all of which were career highs, this season.

He is averaging roughly seven catches for 94.5 yards during Washington’s four-game winning streak, and although he was kept out of the end zone in a victory over the Cowboys last Sunday, he had scored two touchdowns in his two previous games.

“There’s going to be some matchups where myself and the linebackers are going to be matched up against him, but we’ll have the right calls made and there’s going to be times when guys need to step up,” Matthews said. “You can tell he’s a top target, along with DeSean [Jackson] and Pierre [Garcon] at times, so we’ll have our hands full, but he’s a good young player and he seems to be ascending, especially as of late.”