Green Bay Packers rookie cornerback Kevin King hasn’t made a huge impact this season, despite making five starts. There is apparently good reason for that.
King is reportedly playing through a shoulder injury.
“I think it was pretty obvious in the game on Sunday when he wasn’t using two hands,” defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “He’s a tough guy and he’s done a good job working his way through it, but you can see that it’s bothering him at times.”
King played a lesser number of snaps against the Chicago Bears last week. He didn’t appear in the base defense, but still played 40 snaps.
Interestingly, this appears to be a recurring theme for the Packers.
Last season, it was Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins supposedly playing through injuries. And they didn’t play well. In previous seasons, Tramon Williams has played through injury. He also didn’t play well.
So here we are again.
King’s injury dates back to his college days. He tore his labrum as a freshman at Washington. King had surgery then, hurt himself again as a senior and of course the Packers drafted him. Gotta have a cornerback playing through an injury!
In all likelihood, King will end up having surgery again after the season.
Once again, it’s a good thing Ted Thompson cut LaDarius Gunter. Hell, maybe this is the year Demetri Goodson really blossoms.
King has 24 tackles and no interceptions on the season.
So much for Dr. Pat McKenzie not letting guys play through injury.