Possibly, no Damarious Randall? Hopefully, no Problem

Although he's only listed as "questionable" for now, Damarious Randall's groin injury may be a reoccurring problem for the remainder of his second season.

Just this morning, the Packers' only cornerback with an interception this season was added to the injury report to join the list of questionably questionable players. Thank the NFL for the heightened clarification between "probable" and "questionable". 

Randall joins a list highlighted by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who suffered a hamstring injury on Monday night in the win over the Eagles. Along with Rodgers resides Clay Matthews, Blake Martinez and Jake Ryan. Two inside linebackers and one edge-rusher that have the potential to miss Sunday's game against the Texans.

Given the circumstances of the season and the Packers' position on the outside looking in on the playoff race, it's almost 99.9% likely Rodgers is a healthy scratch to play. Matthews, who is battling an AC joint sprain in his shoulder, is still up in the air. After a legal hit from the Eagles' left guard and former Packer Allen Barbre, Matthews briefly exited the game before returning. He was limited, for the most part, to the usage of one arm for a majority of the game. It's unknown whether or not he'll have the same freedom - or lack thereof - tomorrow.

If there's speculation that Randall is held out of what would be his seventh missed game of the season, cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. is likely already preparing his gameplan that would revolve around his few remaining cornerbacks. Quinten Rollins, Ladarius Gunter and Josh Hawkins are those select few, however, in recent games, Micah Hyde has seen an onslaught of snaps as the team's nickel corner. As a result, Hyde has continuously been worked in the slot by opposing wide receivers and tight ends. 

For what it's worth, only three corners have seen action for the Packers in recent weeks. Without Randall, Gunter, Rollins and Goodson had seen a majority of the defensive snaps thanks to the Packers having freedom to play an extra safety on the field in packages that involve Morgan Burnett to play in the box in an inside linebacker hybrid role. 

In the last three weeks, Gunter has seen an average of 58.3 snaps, leading Whitt's group. Rollins trails behind with 43.6 and prior to his gruesome injury with limited action, Goodson was playing 28.3 after starting his season in week six, averaging 48.3 in his first three games.

Against Texans' quarterback Brock Osweiler, who is tied for the lowest passer rating in the league with 72.2, the Packers may not need as much special attention to the secondary this week. But given how pedestrian they've looked in 2016, it may be smart to take that with a grain of salt.

Despite conflicting reports from last week, undrafted free agent cornerback Makinton Dorleant has yet to be activated off of injured reserve. Dorleant would bring 4.40 speed to a secondary group that contains Hawkins and his 4.39 40-yard dash time, yet, has only seen eight total snaps in 2016. However, with many still awaiting Goodson to be swapped to injured reserve in favour of Dorleant, the Packers haven't taken the initiative to do so just yet. As it stands, Dorleant has been the team's designated player to activate off of injured reserve.

3:07 PM UPDATE: Just over an hour after I wrote the above words on Dorleant, the Packers announce they've performed the aforementioned swap of Dorleant to the 53-man roster and Goodson to IR.

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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (16)

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RCPackerFan's picture

December 03, 2016 at 04:23 pm

They did officially activate Dorleant today and placed Goodson on IR.

Also Clowney did not mak the trip to Green Bay and won't play. That helps the offense, and Rodgers on a bad leg.

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ZacharyJacobson's picture

December 03, 2016 at 04:30 pm

Yeah, I went back and added in that little update at the end once I found out.

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RCPackerFan's picture

December 03, 2016 at 04:52 pm

Sorry about that. I didn't see the update when I posted my comment.

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ZacharyJacobson's picture

December 03, 2016 at 05:22 pm

No worries!

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dobber's picture

December 03, 2016 at 07:40 pm

Dorleant can't be much more than a safety blanket...a "just in case". They won't play Hawkins, why would they play Dorleant?

Edit: I guess I should have read you next post, eh?

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RCPackerFan's picture

December 03, 2016 at 04:55 pm

What I don't get is during the stretch of games we haven't seen Hawkins play more. He had 1 bad play against the Lions and hasn't played since. We have seen the other CBs play horribly yet they still went out and played.

I can only assume Hawkins must be terrible in practice?

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ZacharyJacobson's picture

December 03, 2016 at 05:25 pm

Yep. That one rookie mistake where he was burned for the TD vs DET may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Could be seeing what we saw with Janis last season. He had evident struggles in practice, with routes, etc. Didn't see the field until he was absolutely needed - in the Divisional round. That's really the only scenario I could see being the reason. I really liked him.

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Lphill's picture

December 03, 2016 at 07:44 pm

Hyde is God awful in coverage.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

December 04, 2016 at 12:12 am

"... it's almost 99.9% likely Rodgers is a healthy scratch to play."

So, should I expect to see AR on the field?

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TKWorldWide's picture

December 04, 2016 at 09:19 am

I always thought "healthy scratch" meant someone didn't play even though they were healthy.

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zerotolerance's picture

December 04, 2016 at 09:30 am

I did not get that one either.

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dobber's picture

December 04, 2016 at 05:41 am

The injury report scale has virtually no resolution which makes questionable hard to interpret. Still, Randall has practiced on a limited basis every day for the last two weeks and unless he had a setback late in the week, I can't imagine he isn't going to play.

...and as for Rodgers, he looked just spry enough to get around on Monday. It looked like his calf injury a couple years back was worse...and a friend who was a QB said that a calf is going to be more impactful for a QB than a hammy (FWIW). On one leg, #12 is still better than 3/4 of the starting QB out there. He plays, too.

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johntgrace's picture

December 04, 2016 at 05:57 am

Uhhhh, what in the world does "healthy scratch to play" mean? Either 12 plays or he is a healthy scratch. Can't be both.

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mrtundra's picture

December 04, 2016 at 07:24 am

I am hoping Dorleant is as good as people say he is. A 4.4 40 and good coverage skills is just what the doctor ordered for our secondary. Put Hawkins and Dorleant in with help from Brice, Randall and our Safeties and maybe we can be a little disruptive when Osweiler throws the brick anywhere.

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Andrew Lloyd Peth's picture

December 04, 2016 at 08:51 am

Take. Hyde. Out.

Dude can't cover anyone.

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EdsLaces's picture

December 04, 2016 at 09:46 am

Remember when our secondary was badass....good times....

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