Remember Randall Cobb? Of course you do. He was supposed to lead the Green Bay Packers in catches this season and turn into a superstar.
That all went out the window when Cobb injured his knee in mid-October. The Packers put Cobb on injured reserve with designation to return.
However, Cobb said yesterday he may not be returning this year at all. If he does, it won’t be before the middle of December and with the way things have been going lately, there may not be any reason for the Packers to bring Cobb back then anyway.
“I can’t make that call right now,” Cobb said when asked if he is certain he will play again this season. “Right now, today, I cannot play. I’m doing everything I can. I’m working my butt off in the rehab process. This is something that it needs time. It’s getting better. There’s still no timeline on when I can come back.”
With the IR designation, Cobb is eligible to return December 10, which would give him three games left in the season. Again, Cobb made that date sound like a long shot.
“That’s the earliest I could come back,” he said. “It’s not a target date. It’s the earliest that I can come back depending on where I am in my rehab.”
The Packers went through a similar situation with running back Cedric Benson last season. They put him on IR with the designation to return after he suffered a Lisfrac injury early in the season. And… he never was well enough to return.
Fortunately, the Packers have been able to handle Cobb’s absence better than they handled Benson’s last season. Jordy Nelson is a bona fide No. 1 receiver and second-year pro Jarrett Boykin has stepped up big time in Cobb’s absence. When he’s been healthy, James Jones has also been solid.
So if Cobb doesn’t return this season, it’s not quite as big of a deal as, say, losing QB1.