Green Bay Packers cornerback Kevin King faced a pool of reporters on Tuesday for the first time since his nightmare performance in the NFC Championship game last January.
King is on a one-year deal with the Packers. Many were surprised they opted to bring back the corner for many reasons — in particular, lackluster performances and injury concerns. That’s all in the past now, though. King is back, and he seems well aware that this could be his last real shot to stick around for the long run in the NFL. With that in mind, health is wealth for King this season.
The disaster against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can be picked over endlessly, but playing it back won’t solve anything at this point. The reality for King is that he needs to stay healthy and available to the Packers this year more than anything else. If he’s able to maintain his health and still underperforms, oh well. At least he and the team get closure, knowing it just didn’t work. If injury rears its ugly head again, many will be left wondering what could’ve been for the former 2017 second-round pick.
King has played just 41 of a possible 64 regular-season games throughout his career. Through no fault of his own, injuries have just stacked up for No. 20, and they have often come at the most inopportune times.
The Packers can ill-afford to have King go down this year. Just in the last week, the following developments have transpired at the cornerback position:
- Josh Jackson – traded to the New York Giants (however, they did acquire a cornerback in return)
- Ka’dar Hollman – traded to the Houston Texans
- Will Redmond – placed on season-ending injured reserve
Factor in that Eric Stokes is only a rookie, and suddenly, Green Bay’s margin for error at the corner spot is slim.
King sounded confident on Tuesday, but the words only mean so much. He needs to back it up on the field, something he’s well aware of. Per Rob Demovsky of ESPN, King had a lot to say about the game against the Bucs and focusing on this year.
“I’m not the type of guy that just tries to sweep shit under the rug, you know [and then say] all right, let me get a fresh start somewhere,'” King said. “No. I want to finish this with my guys, you know what I’m saying? The guys who’ve believed in me and the guys who continue to believe in me. And like I said, I’m going to do my part to uphold my side of the bargain, but … we’re here to win a Super Bowl.”
If one were to be critical, they could point out that King mentioned he doesn’t sweep stuff under the rug, yet it took seven months to talk about the postseason finale for Green Bay. That’s neither here nor there, though, and you’d have to be a real jerk to point that out.
Head coach Matt LaFleur also spoke about King, and it’s clear the organization still sees (or at least is clinging onto) the potential they believed King to have coming out of Washington four years ago.
“I think our value (talking about King) within our building is much higher maybe than public perception is out there,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “He’s a guy I have a lot of faith, a lot of confidence in. I think when he’s healthy, he’s really tough to deal with, his length when he challenges guys at the line of scrimmage and get his hands on them, that’s a tough matchup for most wide receivers.”
Circle the “when he’s healthy” part. That’s what it always comes back to with King.
The Packers have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations this year, and for better or worse, a big game or two could come down to leaning on the secondary opposite Jaire Alexander to make a play. That likely means King and Stokes. If he can solve the puzzle consistently this year, King earns a contract either in Green Bay or somewhere else next offseason. It’s as simple as that. If he looks more like the guy who floundered against the Bucs, he likely scratches by with maybe another one-year deal elsewhere.
All of this is contingent on King staying healthy. The most frustrating part for him has to be that he hasn’t been able to find a rhythm at times as he’s been on and off the field heavily in three out of his four years in the league. Health is the key, and no matter the results, at least the Packers will have an answer. But let’s be honest, the results better be good.
“You listen to all these guys who have the greatest success stories, they’ve all used those quote-unquote ‘failures’ as turning points,” King said. “In their minds, as humans, it’s kind of just evolving in that stage of life. So, I’ve challenged myself all offseason and continue to challenge myself to come out better from that situation, so quote-unquote ‘failure,’ that’s just a word.”
King is ready to turn the page. Hopefully, the next chapter is a good one.
