GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If Green Bay Packers' first-round pick Damarious Randall is to contend for immediate playing time -- let alone a starting job -- he's got some catching up to do.
While the promising cornerback has dealt with a nagging groin injury, two other rookies -- second-round pick Quinten Rollins and undrafted free agent LaDarius Gunter -- already have shown their chops at the position.
Randall's injury prevented him from even making the trip to last week's preseason opener at New England, where Rollins and Gunter turned in two of the most impressive performances on defense. Rollins broke up a pair of passes, both of which could have been interceptions. Gunter actually picked off a pass and in the process showed he's perhaps more than just a practice-field phenom.
When the Packers picked Randall at No. 30 overall, he looked like an immediate possibility to replace starting left cornerback Tramon Williams, who signed with the Cleveland Browns in free agency. Now there's a chance he's not even among their top five cornerbacks if you include versatile defensive back Micah Hyde, who almost certainly will play the nickel (or third cornerback) spot while Casey Hayward and Sam Shields start on the outside.
A little more than three months into his NFL career, Randall already has dealt with two injuries. He arrived with an ankle injury he said he sustained working out prior to the draft. He did not practice in the rookie minicamp and was limited early in OTAs, and now he has the groin injury.
He went through tests before practice Saturday with the hope that he could return, but it didn't happen. Afterward, he said he couldn't put a timetable on his return.
"I'm hoping I'm going to get out there pretty soon," Randall said. "I'm definitely still there mentally. It'll just probably take a day or two just to get back into shape, or practice shape, but I don't think I'll miss a beat."
If that's the case, perhaps Randall can carve out a role in the dime package as the sixth defensive back. But for that to happen, defensive coordinator Dom Capers and cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt will have to be willing to move someone -- most likely Hayward -- to the slot because Randall has played only the outside spot.
"That's the only position that I've played," Randall said. "So I'm going to have to master it."
It wouldn't be a major adjustment for Hayward to play outside in base and nickel and then move inside in the dime. Hayward played the slot in the dime last season.
If nothing else, Randall showed his athleticism before his groin injury. But in order to play right away, he's going to need the reps required refine his technique and show coach Mike McCarthy he has grasped the playbook.
"He does some things that are very natural, and he has very good make-up speed," McCarthy said. "But I think you also learn a lesson as a young guy that you can't rely on that because the other guy can run too. But I like the way he's transitioned. He's just got to get healthy."
