Apparently Randall Cobb wants to be Jermichael Finley, this year. That is, the guy with stone hands. They guy who gets hit right in the hands with the football and the football bounces harmlessly to the ground. A latter day Antonio Stone Hands Freeman, if you will.
Tyler Dunne says Cobb has already dropped four catchable balls in competitive drills. The Urinal Sentinel also says Cobb dropped a team-high 10 passes last season, but that can’t be true. Because… Jermichael Finley.
So are we concerned, Mike?
“Randall Cobb catches the football very well,” McCarthy said. “He might drop a ball. I don’t know if there’s a concern. But it’s something we spend a lot of time on. We need to catch the football better….I’ve never been part of a perimeter group that accepts anything less than being 100 percent, and that’s what we’re striving for.
“As far as Randall Cobb’s evaluation of catching the football, he has very good hands.”
Way to toe that company line, Mike!
On the upside, Cobb led the Green Bay Packers in receiving last season with 80 catches for 954 yards. He’s the team’s most versatile player — he can line up wide or in the backfield. He returns kicks and punts. He does all of those things really well.
Maybe that’s the problem.
There’s been talk of taking Cobb off kick and punt returns, but McCarthy recently said if the season opened now, Cobb would be the man. That doesn’t mean that can’t change. The Packers have experimented with a number of guys on returns already in camp. The frontrunner to replace Cobb would seem to be Jeremy Ross, who handled those duties when Cobb was out last season.
Minus a muffed punt in the playoff game at San Francisco, Ross handled those duties pretty well.
What the hell am I getting at?
Maybe it’s time to let Cobb concentrate solely on his offensive duties.