Kevin King back on the practice field
The third year cornerback had missed time at the start of the offseason program recovering from a hamstring injury.
By PackerAaron
Cornerback Kevin King was back on the practice field today during the Packers first public OTA practice. The third year pro did not participate during last month's minicamp while continuing to recover from a hamstring injury.
The 2019 season is an important one for King, who has shown real promise when on the field. The problem, of course, is the stretches where he has been on the field have been far too infrequent.
A healthy campaign will go a long way to solidifying King as one of the cornerstones of Mike Pettine's Packers defense, which has been noticeably better when King has played.
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Comments (26)
stockholder
May 21, 2019 at 02:38 pm
Good, I like King. Dbs will get injured. Hopefully he can stay Healthy.
IceBowl
May 21, 2019 at 02:55 pm
I hate including "injuries" in football discussions.
They are a constant that do nothing but add more ambiguity to ambiguous forecasting discussions.
Can't we just assume what we already know, that "an injury could end a player's availability" without the constant qualifiers and projections.
That an injury "hurts" is always assumed.
Leatherhead
May 21, 2019 at 04:47 pm
I read a blurb on footballoutsiders.com a while back that DBs are the position where injuries hit most all across the league. You need to have NINE of these guys on the 45 (four safeties, four DBs, one hybrid) on the 45 man active roster ...times 32 teams......meaning there's nearly 300 DBs in uniform each week. And yet you still end up playing guys who weren't even in the league when the season started.
Hope for the best and plan for the worst. We're a better defense with King on the field.
jeremyjjbrown
May 21, 2019 at 06:19 pm
The secondary is the only group where 180 lbs guys have to try and lay the wood on 260 lbs guys. RBs just need to block bigger dudes sometimes but they can mostly just get in the way.
I've seen NFL TEs up close, I can not imagine throwing my body even once at one of those dudes running full speed and walking away from it.
Lphill
May 21, 2019 at 03:54 pm
I am not getting my hopes up about him , I wish I could but I can’t . If he makes it through OTA’s , camp and the pre season then yes maybe .
4thand1
May 21, 2019 at 04:04 pm
King rarely missed time until he was drafted. I'll chalk it up to bad luck, the good luck starts now ,things even out.
CoachJV
May 21, 2019 at 04:50 pm
Dude... he missed his entire freshman season with the shoulder, and a good chunk of his sophomore year too... do some research. He hasn't been readily available since high school... and those are facts. Look them up.
He was glass in college... he's glass in the pro's
dobber
May 23, 2019 at 12:51 pm
www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/kevin-king-5.html
Um. Yeah. Research.
CoachJV
May 21, 2019 at 04:48 pm
"The third year pro did not participate during last month's minicamp while continuing to recover from a hamstring injury."
Why am I not surprised by this?
Qoojo
May 21, 2019 at 05:36 pm
The hamstring injury is news to me. I thought it was the never ending shoulder issue.
Demon
May 21, 2019 at 07:19 pm
Id be surprised if he didnt get injured in the parking lot walking into the stadium
IceBowl
May 21, 2019 at 07:34 pm
Demon,
Thanks for your important thought. Your ankles are at risk too.
zeroluv
May 21, 2019 at 08:37 pm
King reminds me of Keenan Allen. Allen was always hurt but it was mostly bad luck. This will be the year we see if A healthy King can play all 16 games
PAPackerbacker
May 21, 2019 at 08:45 pm
He needs to stay healthy and make positive contributions to the defense but I have my doubts he will stay healthy and play the whole season once the regular season begins. I hope I am wrong because King is a dynamic player. But he seems injury prone.
Boneman
May 22, 2019 at 06:01 am
What leads to the conclusion that the Packers are better with King on the field? What "real promise" has he shown? My observation is that he is pretty average and certainly hasn't flashed anything even close to what Alexander has done. If he can stay on the field he will still have to prove he belongs there.
PeteK
May 22, 2019 at 08:00 am
The season hasn't even started yet and he's injured! I have had enough of these Humpty Dumpies. Jackson's development is a must for the success of this defense. Then we'll have three solid DBs ,Alexander, Williams ,and Jackson.
PatrickGB
May 22, 2019 at 04:31 pm
Pete, his injury is a carryover from last year. When he is on the field he plays well. He has nice height to cover the taller receivers and nice speed to cover the faster ones. He is a pretty good number two CB. Hammys are tricky and can linger and get reinjured quite easily. My guess at this point is that it is the medical staff being careful. Perhaps he will get injured again and perhaps not. In any case, when he is healthy he is an asset to the defense.
CoachJV
May 22, 2019 at 05:41 pm
And what footage have you seen to say he plays well? He has been average at best when on the field. Which hasn't even been 16 games total in 2 years.
greengold
May 23, 2019 at 11:26 am
King made some great plays in 2017 v. ATL, CIN, DAL, DET, CHI, PHI.
We all know he was drafted injured, and that it was probably not the best move in the 2017 draft, but he does have skills. At the time, Ted was trying to jump Schneider and Seattle, who wanted King as the heir to Richard Sherman. Seattle immediately traded out of their #2 pick in R2.
Have you seen his plays when he was a Washington Husky? Magical stuff v. Arizona State, USC, Bama, Arizona, Cal, Boise St., Utah St.
King is also very, very good in run support, with crazy ball skills and speed. If he can get healthy, and stay healthy, we might have pure gold here.
jannesbjornson
May 23, 2019 at 12:49 pm
He played Julio Jones tough off the line and through the route His 4.39 speed is real. Just has a rail of a frame. Needs to pack on some muscle.
greengold
May 23, 2019 at 11:07 am
I do think Kevin King can be a good CB when healthy. My only real hope for him is that Chris Gizzi, our new Strength & Conditioning Coordinator can take him under his wing and help to improve his availability.
He has some insane measureables. Was he the best pick at that time? Hardly. However, he has talent, and if he can now stay healthy, that would be fantastic. Not going to hold my breath, but a healthy season for him might be possible. He's a big, fast dude with ball skills. I've seen enough from his play when healthy to think he could be a major contributor to this D. Availability is key.
Speaking of which, I really am hoping Chris Gizzi keeps us from being one of the most injured teams year after year. That would be cool.
greengold
May 23, 2019 at 11:42 am
BTW, King 6-3 200 ran a 4.43 with a 40" vertical... plus a 6.56 3-cone, fastest in the draft... take that in for a second.
Kevin King did not allow a single TD in 2016, and allowed just 1 in his last 28 games at Washington. He's got great instincts and can play nickel slot DB , outside CB or as a Safety. Do you know what it is like to have a player that big cover the slot? Watch his film from 2015. The dude was just knocking balls all over the place with his radius. He's got a great football IQ too. I watch a lot of PAC 12 football. Really, there is no position in the secondary that the guy cannot play - when healthy.
This player has huge upside. Keep him healthy with good coaching, and the sky is the limit.
greengold
May 23, 2019 at 12:24 pm
Lastly, Kevin King played in 42 games in his career at Washington, allowing just that 1 TD in 101 targets.
He's got the versatility that Pettine craves in his players, and is able to readily switch to any position in the secondary. DB Coach Jason Simmons could really help this kid on the versatility front, as he's coaching all the CBs and Safeties together, as a unified group.
To all the nay sayers, cut this player some slack. How many players DIDN'T have a pulled groin or a pulled hamstring under Mike McCarthy's tenure? I believe Gizzi will be working diligently to do a 180° on that. Gizzi could prove himself to be one of GB's most valuable assets if he can keep more of our players off the training table.
Lare
May 23, 2019 at 02:13 pm
Gizzi and the rest of the strength & conditioning staff have been in Green Bay at least five years, Lovat has been there for 21 years and is still there.
I'd be surprised if anything changes in their injury experience. You usually don't change things by doing the same thing over and over.
Doug Niemczynski
May 23, 2019 at 01:33 pm
I really wanna hear he played a full entire season in 2019.
greengold
May 23, 2019 at 01:51 pm
Doug, me to buddy!