GREEN BAY, WI-- The Packers placed cornerback Kevin King on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, ending his season, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.
The #Packers placed their first draft pick CB Kevin King (shoulder) on Injured Reserve, ending his season. They activated DB Demetri Goodson
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 6, 2017
King, a rookie corner from the University of Washington, was the Packers first pick in the 2017 draft, selected in the second round with the 33rd overall pick.
He played in nine games this year, starting five, and collected 21 tackles and five pass deflections.
King has been dealing with thisshoulder issuesince tearing his labrum during his freshman year at Washington, though he labeled it as "not a concern" in August.
“That was something I had a little problem with in college a little bit but it’s something that I’ve been dealing with and I know how to deal with it,” King said back in August. “It’s something that I know is not major."
Throughout the season, King wore shoulder protection on his left arm and was forced to miss weeks 6 and 11 versus the Vikings and Ravens.
Again in November, Kingdenied any real problems surrounding the shoulder saying, "It's feeling all right. It definitely affects you, but it's something I've been going through for a while now. I'm all right."
King then wenton to insist that it would not be a problem for the rest of the season, according to ESPN's Rob Demovsky. Even though Demovsky said King "sure sounds like someone who knows he needs surgery after the season."
Despite the injury, head coach Mike McCarthy waspleased with the workKing did this season.
"I can’t give him enough credit for fighting through what he has,”McCarthy said. "These injuries are a challenge for every team, and that’s something that we’ve had to deal with a lot this year.”
In response to King's departure to IR, the Packers activated cornerback Demetri Goodson off of the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. Goodson has not played in 2017.
