Green Bay Packers: Kevin King Misses Friday’s Practice

Considering the point that we are at in the NFL season, this is a fairly healthy Green Bay Packers team. Through Thursday, every player listed on the injury report did participate in practice to at least some degree–excluding Marcedes Lewis, who takes every Thursday off to rest.

However, we received some less than stellar news during Matt LaFleur’s time with the media on Friday, and that is that Kevin King missed practice with what was called a “back issue.”

LaFleur didn’t have a ton of details, but he did mention that they’ll see where King is at on Sunday, and hopefully, he will be able to play.

If you recall, King missed the Week 6 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Buccaneers as he was sidelined with an injury at the time. In his place was Josh Jackson, who allowed four completions on six targets but only gave up 17 yards, according to Pro Football Focus ($). However, he did allow a touchdown, and penalties were an issue once again.

This season has really been an up and down year for King. He’s missed time with an injury, we’ve seen some tough stretches of football from him, but we’ve also seen some good ones as well. With Jaire Alexander locking down his side of the field, King has been targeted heavily in recent weeks, including 18 times over the last two games.

While he has allowed 14 receptions during that span, he’s done very well at limiting the production. Receivers are averaging only 8.2 yards per catch and have accumulated just 40 total yards after the catch. King also has two pass breakups, he hasn’t allowed a touchdown since Week 11 when he returned to action, and quarterbacks have a passer rating of 92.4 when targeting him the last two games.

If King is unable to go, this will be a difficult loss for the Green Bay Packers to absorb. I guess the silver lining is that they did just sign Tramon Williams for added depth, but he is primarily a slot corner at this point in his career. Chances are it would be Jackson again lining up opposite of Alexander.

Let’s hope that King’s absence from practice was more of a precautionary move than anything else, and we see him on the field this Sunday.