When Randall Cobb sprained the AC joint in his right shoulder in the third preseason game this year, things looked down for the Packers offense. After all the team had just lost Jordy Nelson for the season the week before. Thankfully Cobb was able to suit up and play week one against Chicago and has done so every week since then. 

Week two of this season against Seattle saw Cobb collect 8 catches and 116 yards on 11 targets. The following week he had 12 targets and 3 scores against the Chiefs and was the focal point of the offense, especially in the red zone. As far as on the field production, the injury he suffered in the preseason appeared to be a non-issue, which was great because at this point the team had also lost Davante Adams. The rash of receiver injures has left them with Cobb, James Jones, and a bunch of guys with next to nothing in terms of NFL experience.

After seeing his targets rise the first three weeks of the season, Cobb was on his way to continuing the solid production in week 4 against the 49ers. Then he got injured again. 

While Cobb was able to come back into the game against the 49ers, he has been a different player since the injury and it is not just in his production, you can see it when he plays.

This season - especially the last two games - on almost every single play where there is a chance of the defender pressing Cobb at the line or jamming him, Cobb has been using a stutter step, sometimes a fairly exaggerated one, to create separation. He used that move in the previous seasons as well, but typically on quicker routes or close to the end zone where he needed to create separation and there wasn't a lot of room to work. He never used it consistently like he is now and especially not when he needs to run longer routes.

The play below is against St. Louis this season. Randall Cobb is lined up with the corner lined up opposite him playing inside leverage and playing close to the line. Cobb's route will be a go route to the outside of the defender. Instead of simply running the route at the snap of the ball he does a stutter step to create some separation incase the corner tries to jam him. He does this despite the corner playing inside and his route going around him to the outside.

The stutter step in comparison to the slower Richard Rodgers lined up next to Cobb shows just how much it costs Cobb. Rodgers runs his route with a clean release off the line and gets four yards down the field further than Cobb by the time Cobb actually starts running. Not only is Cobb now behind, the move creates no separation and the defender is right on his hip.

Now compare the play above, a typical Cobb move at the line from this season when there is a chance of him getting jammed, to the two plays below from last season.

In the first play, below, you see Cobb lined up against Xavier Rhodes, a physical corner who is playing press-coverage on Cobb. Cobb can expect contact from Rhodes and instead of the elongated stutter step as seen in the play above, he gives him one move and goes, which was typical of him last year because he wasn't afraid of getting hit.

In this next play you see Cobb lined up against Detroit running the exact same route as he did in the first play shown here against St. Louis. Just like against the Rams the corner is playing with inside leverage and close to the line of scrimmage. This time instead of stutter stepping and making a move to create separation, he runs right past the defender, like he should. Had their not been help over the top, he would have created the separation he needed. Instead he does a hitch right as the gif ends.

These were pretty standard samples of how Cobb played when he was healthy versus how he is playing now with the shoulder injury. There has been a clear disconnect between Cobb and Rodgers the last two weeks and Cobb's shoulder injury is likely the main issue. One of the few times last week that Cobb had a chance to make a big play, he was streaking across the field and dropped a very catchable pass because he didn't extend his arms far enough. Ruining what would have been at minimum a 25-yard gain. Cobb is usually very sure-handed and with a catch as easy as that one, I have to believe his shoulder played a large part in him not getting his hands in position to make the play. There was another play last week where Rodgers threw the ball up immediately for Cobb to chase it down about 20 yards down the field. At the line, Cobb does his stutter step again and ends up being way short of where Rodgers placed the ball.

All of this was confirmed by Tom Clements on Monday when he actually stated that Cobb's shoulder injury is inhibiting him from getting open. While watching the San Diego game, I also noticed this:

It may be nothing, but in the above gif it is kind of hard to see, but Cobb does appear to be favoring his right shoulder while he runs. He lets his left arm move around and lowers it as he gets to his spot, while the right elbow stays bent the entire time. While lining up pre-snap the last couple weeks he is also not letting his arms hang like most receivers do very often, he keeps his elbows bent and tries to take some of the load off of his shoulder. 

I don't think it is any surprise to anyone that he is still injured, but it is clearly affecting his play on the field. Normally I would suggest they just sit him and not play him until he is capable of fully performing like himself, but with the team so banged up they need him out there to draw attention from the defense, even if it is just as a token player or decoy.

With the bye this week, hopefully Cobb, Adams, and Montgomery can get healthy. If Adams and Montgomery can get better over the bye and Cobb is not able to be where he needs to be, I would not be opposed to resting him until he gets right. He is too important to this offense and to the team to risk making this a season long problem.