King puts himself in position to make crucial play
ARLINGTON, Texas - Kevin King saw Dak Prescott pat the football once, twice. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback had looked left at the snap, but now he was looking right. Looking directly at the receiver King had covered.
What happened next depends somewhat on the color jersey you wore Sunday afternoon. Receiver Michael Gallup had run a slant into a deep curl, turning just before the 45-yard line. There was some contact as Gallup pushed his way downfield, but no flag. By the time Gallup turned, Prescott's pass was already in midair.
And King was sprinting straight for
it.
“Dak already kind of knew where he was throwing that ball,” King said afterward, leaning against the wall next to his locker deep inside AT&T Stadium. “Because, if you watch the film, he definitely should not have thrown it – at all. Got to take advantage of stuff like that.”
King had failed to take advantage of a gift interception one quarter earlier. Prescott's pass had smacked the Green Bay Packers cornerback in both hands, but it was a little bit behind King, who dropped the football as his feet got caught in the turf.
No way was he dropping this one. “Really, I caught his eyes,” King said. “So I saw it the whole way.”
King's interception with 10:26 left in the fourth quarter Sunday was the pivotal play the Packers needed from their defense. Before the play, things were getting dicey. The Cowboys had the momentum. The Packers' seemingly insurmountable lead was shrinking. Then, King delivered.
His 15-yard runback inside the Cowboys' 30 set up what would become Mason Crosby's 38-yard field goal iced the Packers' 34-24 win, a victory that improved their record to 4-1.
“We're always one play away,” King said. “You always want to be the guy to make it.”
Three days earlier, it seemed unlikely King would be in position to be that guy. He'd exited the field with a groin injury late in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles one week earlier and, no matter how much time he spent with trainers, the groin wasn't improving.
King, who missed more games than he played during his first two seasons, missed practice Wednesday. He missed practice Thursday. He was listed as doubtful Friday.
Through the week, King said, he didn't think he'd be able to play.
“Then it was Friday,” King said, “I was doing stuff and I was like, ‘Damn.' It kind of surprised me, because I didn't really feel it too much. But I thought it was just kind of taking its course, getting a little better. Then I started revving it up a little bit more, a little bit more.
“I woke up Saturday, thought it might be sore just from doing stuff and everything, and it was good. And I'm like, ‘Man, I've got to say something.'”
The Packers upgraded King from doubtful to questionable Saturday, but that's far from being cleared. It's a long season, and the team's medical staff wasn't willing to risk further aggravating a soft-tissue injury.
So two hours before kickoff Sunday, King was on the field. He did light, 40yard sprints. He jogged the full 100 yards. He high-stepped while running sideways, testing his groin. There was no pain.
The Packers didn't overextend King against the Cowboys. They rotated him off the field at times, playing Chandon Sullivan. They also shut him down after King tweaked his knee following the interception, something he described after the game as only a bruise.
The Packers weren't removing King with the game on the line. And the third-year corner delivered.
“They were smart about it,” King said. “They didn't just go out there and have me play every play. It's definitely a long season. But in critical situations, I want to be out there for my team."