Wilde Blog: Cobb, Green Will Return Kicks – WISC Madison
By Jason WildeChannel3000.com/ESPNMadison.com Staff Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. — Randall Cobb and Alex Green will both get cracks are returning kickoffs Thursday night against the New Orleans Saints, according to Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum.“I’d like to use both, just because you have change-of-pace,” Slocum said of the two rookies, who split the duties in preseason. “I think both of them have different, unique qualities. So I would anticipate us using at least those two.”Cobb suffered bruises to both knees during a kickoff return against Arizona on Aug. 19 and missed the final two preseason games. He also muffed a punt, and when asked about the two rookies’ ball security, Slocum replied simply, “I’d like to see more. Not quite there yet.”Why? Because with a truncated preseason and no offseason, “our fundamentals have to be correct on Thursday night when we take the field. We don’t have a long history of execution under our belts at this point.”Slocum said Cobb will be the punt returner, which allows the Packers to use their fifth wide receiver in that role instead of Pro Bowl cornerback Tramon Williams. While Slocum wouldn’t say that Cobb is any less valuable than Williams, he did say that “when you can spread the workload, you’re a more efficient team. That’s probably the best way to answer that question.”Meanwhile, Slocum isn’t entirely sure how the new kickoff rules will impact NFL regular-season play, but he doesn’t expect teams to be bringing kickoffs out from eight yards deep in the end zone – including the packers.“I don’t think so,” Slocum said. “I think that everybody wanted to see (returns). You go out and take a knee, you don’t see anybody block actively and you don’t see the runner run.”The Packers kicked off 20 times in four preseason games, including one onside kick, and had 18 of the kickoffs reach the end zone but there were only four touchbacks. Packers opponents kicked off 19 times, including one onside kick, and 17 of them reached the end zone, with only five resulting in touchbacks.“We’re going to get into weather conditions in this league starting in November where you’re not going to kick the ball out. You’re going to have to cover, you’re going to have to return. So everybody wanted to see that and make evaluations on the players,” Slocum explained.Slocum suggested that with kickoffs coming from the 35-yard line, fans will see a lot of touchbacks until the weather turns.“From what I saw, when we took a ball from 8 yards deep and ran 28 yards to the 20, that’s a lot of work. That was a good return a year ago. But now, you’re at the 20,” Slocum said. “If you take a knee, you get the ball at the 20 and you don’t risk a turnover or an injury or something like that.”Slocum wouldn’t say where he draws the line for his returners bringing the ball out of the end zone.“I don’t want to say it because it’s a competitive deal,” Slocum said. “But I think it’s a pretty logical line that you could probably figure out.”
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