Cobb: 'Have to go out and make things happen'
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s Brett Christopherson caught up with Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb, who looked ahead to Sunday’s Week 9 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts at Lambeau Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:25 p.m. This Q&A is presented by Tundraland:
It seems the Packers can’t catch a break when it comes to the injury bug. Yes, that’s life in the NFL, but how do you and your teammates avoid letting frustration get the best of you when it comes to dealing with the litany of injuries that continue to plague this team?
Cobb: That’s part of the NFL. You never know what’s going to happen. You never know who’s going to go down, or who’s going to be where. And really, you just have to go out there and play with who you’ve got on Sunday. You try to put your best guys on the field and put them in the best position that you can on Sunday and see what happens. And when you have some guys that step up and make some plays, you learn more about your team. I never really think about if we had everybody because every Sunday presents its own difficulties and adversities. We’re trying to overcome some right now.
Teams throughout the league are dealing with what seems to be an increasing number of injuries. From your standpoint and experience, can anything more be done to better maintain player health?
Cobb: There’s only so much you can do. I think you just have so many more guys being injured in different ways right now. I think it may be a case of you have some of the bigger name guys, more recognizable name guys that have been going through some injuries.
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Your running game has been bogged down because of injury, and yet the passing game has found a rhythm behind the spread look. Why has that formation been so effective?
Cobb: I think it just goes back to the 46 (active players) that we have out there on Sunday. This past week (against Atlanta), we had Knile (Davis) and Don (Jackson) at running back. And obviously, two very inexperienced guys with our offense. Don had just come up off the practice squad, and Knile had just gotten here probably a week ago, so it’s kind of hard to get them as involved as we probably would have liked to with our running game, so it forced us to spread out a little bit. But that just goes back again to who we have on Sunday and trying to put our team in the best position to win. So, we’ve been able to spread out defenses, make the play underneath, break some tackles, try to pick up first downs and keep the sticks moving. That’s been our formula for success these past couple weeks.
The Colts rank 31st in pass defense and 29th in total defense. What’s the scouting report as you study their personnel and schemes? Do you anticipate another strong outing for your passing game?
Cobb: They actually have a little bit of an injury bug, as well, with some of their defensive backs. (Pro Bowl cornerback) Vontae Davis went out with a concussion this past week, so we’re going to have to see if he’s going to be out this week or if we’ll be playing against him. … It’s definitely going to be important for us to go out and make some plays and try to put some points on the board. The scouting report shows they have some good players. We’ll definitely have fun with (linebacker) Erik Walden, a guy that we’ve seen here in Green Bay a few years back and one of their leaders on defense. But we definitely have to go out and make things happen.
Brett Christopherson: 920-993-7117, or bchristopherson@gannett.com; on Twitter @PCBrettC