GREEN BAY—Randall Cobb insists his injured bicep will be fine, but he played through some obvious pain in Tuesday's practice that may not be going away anytime soon.
"I think it's something that he's probably going to be battling for a while," Head Coach Mike McCarthy said.
Cobb, who was held out of the preseason opener last Friday due to the bicep injury, practiced full-go from start to finish as the Packers put the pads back on Tuesday at Ray Nitschke Field.
But during the series of team (11-on-11) periods in the latter portion of practice, Cobb was clearly bothered by his upper right arm, which has a web-like array of Kinesio tape around it.
At times, Cobb's right arm was positioned differently from his left as he jogged back to the line of scrimmage after plays.
As he continued to make catches and participate as normal, his body language suggested significant discomfort, but he soldiered on rather than pull himself out.
"The hardest part for me is I'm a tough guy. I want to be on the field. I don't like missing practice. I hate missing practice," Cobb said. "Trying to be smart and be tough at the same time is difficult for me."
McCarthy didn't question Cobb's judgment when asked about his star receiver right after practice, but he may feel differently when he sees the film.
"It's something we understand what the injury is, and we wouldn't put him out there if we thought he was in jeopardy of moving forward and getting healthy," McCarthy said.
Cobb said he toughed it out in part because he wanted to test himself, which suggests he's figuring out how to deal with the injury should it linger for an extended time. He said the bicep injury traced back to the Family Night scrimmage, but he didn't know exactly when or how it occurred.
"I know at some point during the season, I'm going to be in pain, and I'm going to have to play, and I'm going to have to be productive when I do play," Cobb said. "So trying to push through right now is more of a mindset for me.
"It's nothing to be worried about. I may be in a lot of pain, but I'll be fine."
Cobb acknowledged that he probably crossed the line on Tuesday between being "tough" and being "smart," and he said he'll take responsibility for communicating better with the coaches and trainers moving forward.
But the all-everything skill player also wants to be sure he's ready for the season. He led the Packers in receptions last year, ran the ball out of the backfield and returned punts and kicks. He may relinquish the return duties this season, but that's far from certain.
"I still think I've got a lot of work to do, and that's another reason I don't want to miss practice," he said. "When you don't practice, you can't work on those things. It's trying to balance that."
Running back Eddie Lacy (hamstring) and receiver Kevin Dorsey (leg) both returned to practice on a limited basis, doing individual drills only. Running back DuJuan Harris remained limited in his second day back, and McCarthy said he wasn't sure how much 11-on-11 work Lacy and Harris would get this week.
It was Dorsey's first workout since the second day of camp, and having missed a number of OTA sessions in the spring due to injury, the seventh-round draft pick has a lot of catching up to do. Fellow seventh-round pick and receiver Charles Johnson, whose absence began at the same time as Dorsey's, still hasn't returned.
McCarthy wasn't closing the door on any prospects this early in the preseason, though.
"There's a lot of football left," he said. "We've got three games. There are no decisions that have been made this week. We tell the players all the time, your most important ability is availability. It's something we need to do a better job of as a football team. I'm just glad to see (Dorsey) back out there." Additional coverage - Aug. 13
