The Green Bay Packers may go into Sunday’s Week 8 showdown against Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons without the team’s top three cornerbacks.
According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, second-year cornerback Damarious Randall is expected to miss “several more weeks” after having surgery on his injured groin over the weekend.
He isn’t the only member of the Packers secondary who will watch Sunday’s game from the sidelines.
Top cornerback Sam Shields is already on injured reserve with the lingering effects of a concussion, and fellow second-year cornerback Quinten Rollins is also dealing with a groin injury he suffered before Green Bay’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Good luck, Packers.
Jones leads the NFL in receiving yards with 830 after seven weeks. He’s averaging 20.8 yards per catch, with a league high 16 catches over 20 yards and 243 yards after the catch.
Jones also has a history of scorching the Packers.
When Green Bay took on Jones in 2014, the Falcons All-Pro receiver caught 11 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown during a 43-37 Packers’ win at Lambeau Field.
A similar stat line could be in play for Sunday.
The Packers will likely be forced to start former undrafted free agent LaDarius Gunter against Jones. While Gunter held up fine in his one-on-one matchup with Alshon Jeffery last Thursday night, Jones and his otherworldly combination of size and speed represents a far greater task—especially with Matt Ryan throwing him the football.
The Packers have young cornerbacks Demetri Goodson and Josh Hawkins behind Gunter, and veteran Micah Hyde is capable of dropping down and playing cornerback in a pinch. Still, none of the players who will suit up for the Packers on Sunday are capable of handling Jones for 60 minutes.
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