The Green Bay Packers saw star wide receiver Jordy Nelson go down with a torn ACL and be ruled out for the entire 2015 NFL season. It was a massive blow, but soon after that, they saw Randall Cobb go down with what he originally feared to be a broken collarbone. Despite the injury, the latest Cobb injury update is that he doesn't expect to miss their Week 1 game against the Chicago Bears.
Needless to say, this is huge news for the Packers and Cobb. Green Bay simply couldn't have rebounded from losing two of their best players, and this news means that they won't have to find out how tough it would have been.
Cobb is a very tough player that has shown impressive recovery speed in the past. Just a couple short years ago, he broke his leg early on during the season and came back to help win their Week 16 match-up against the Chicago Bears -- which got them into the playoffs. He will now be returning from another injury just in time to face their NFC North rivals.
During the 2014 season with the Packers, Cobb caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was almost unstoppable for opposing defenses and will be asked to fill an even bigger role this year with Nelson missing the season.
This past offseason, the Packers were able to get him locked up to a long-term contract. Cobb had plenty of other choices and teams offering him more money, but he chose to stay loyal to Green Bay and re-sign on a bit of a bargain deal. That kind of loyalty shows exactly why Cobb is so loved by the Packers' fan base, and there are major expectations for him now that he has cashed in on his early success.
Looking ahead at the 2015 season, Aaron Rodgers is going to have to step up in a big way. Davante Adams is the number two wide receiver behind Cobb and after Adams, the Packers are very thin at wide receiver. Rodgers will have to take full leadership, but also will have to put a lot more trust in his top two targets.
There is no question that Cobb is ready to step up and take over the top receiver role, and he is proving that by toughing out this injury.
Shoulder injuries are not easy for receivers to bounce back from, but that appears to be what Cobb is prepared to do. Green Bay desperately needed their star receiver on the field, and there was never a second when he was thinking about missing their first game.
Expect to see Cobb playing against the Bears when Week 1 rolls around and to be a major impact player for the Packers. He is once again showing off the toughness that he possesses, and Green Bay fans should begin getting excited about the upcoming season.
