Packers corner Kevin King keeping fit while awaiting return to action
GREEN BAY – Unable to participate in team reps while recovering from shoulder surgery, Green Bay Packers cornerback Kevin King has found other ways to stay busy at practice.
From time to time, the second-year corner has been seen dropping into his push-up stance on the sideline. King will crank out a set of roughly 20, then pop back up. In any given practice this spring, King estimated, he’ll do between 200 and 300 push-ups.
Usually, push-ups during practice are a form of punishment for players. For a cornerback, 20 push-ups could be the result of a dropped interception. King said he’s doing his push-ups on his own, using them as a productive way to pass the extra time.
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“It’s just random,” King said. “Just trying to make the most out of my time. I’m out there watching, and maybe when a play is over and stuff, I try to get a set in. So just trying to better myself. Just trying to do something.”
This spring hasn’t been easy for King. In the midst of his most important offseason – coach Mike McCarthy regularly talks about the need for players to improve entering their second NFL season – King has been limited to individual reps. Joe Whitt, the defensive pass-game coordinator, said during organized team activities King should be full-go by next month’s training camp.
Until then, he’ll stick to his individual drills and push-ups.
King said he’s done push-ups since he was 5. As a kid, he said, his father frequently told him about how important the exercise was for former NFL running back Herschel Walker.
“If you’re watching TV,” King said, “you see a commercial, hit out 20. By the end of the day, you’ve got a few hundred in.”
Only recently has he found extra time to make them part of his practice routine.
“I do as many sets of 20 or 30,” King said. “So I get to about 18, 19, see how I’m feeling. Then I might go to 25, 30. But I don’t really keep count. I end up with probably about 200, 300 during practice, and then I try to go home and do more.”