Packers’ Randall Cobb may miss remainder of 2021 season after undergoing core muscle surgery, per report

The remainder of Randall Cobb’s season is in jeopardy after the Packers‘ receiver underwent core muscle surgery last week, according to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. The Packers believe that Cobb will miss several games, per Demovsky, as Cobb underwent surgery last week with the hope that he would be back for the postseason. 

Cobb excited the Packers’ Week 12 win over the Rams after catching four of five targets for 95 yards and a touchdown during the first half. Packers coach Matt LaFleur told the media after the game that Cobb would miss time after sustaining a “significant” injury. 

“That’s unfortunate because I thought he has done such an amazing job when given the opportunity,” LaFleur said. “We were talking about just his targets on third down alone.”

Acquired by the Packers from the Houston Texans for a sixth-round pick this summer, Cobb has been a key cog in Green Bay’s offense this season. The 11-year veteran caught 28 of 39 targets for 375 yards and five touchdowns during the season’s first 12 games. He had multi-touchdown games during the Packers’ victories over the Steelers and Cardinals. 

Cobb has provided quarterback Aaron Rodgers with a familiar and reliable target in the slot that has allowed Davante Adams to make more plays on the outside. 

“There’s a knack to playing in the slot,” Rodgers said following Green Bay’s Week 4 win over Pittsburgh. “To have another guy in there who can get open like that and have the feel that he does just gives us a lot of flexibility in the offense, for sure.”

With Cobb recovering from his injury, the Packers’ passing game will lean more on Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard and running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. If he cannot return this season, Cobb would be the second pass-catcher the Packers have lost for the year after tight end Robert Tonyan tore his ACL in Green Bay’s Week 8 win over Arizona.