GREEN BAY, Wis. -- DeShawn Wynn's season is over, while Koren Robinson's could begin Sunday at Kansas City.
With their roster exemption from the NFL for Robinson expiring, the Green Bay Packers added the reinstated wide receiver on Tuesday, making room for him on the 53-man roster by placing their leading rusher Wynn on season-ending injured reserve.
Coach Mike McCarthy said Wynn has "a significant shoulder injury."
"It's part of the game," said Wynn, who started four games and rushed 50 times for 203 yards and four touchdowns. "You can't really control injuries."
Wynn has had a lot of them.
He suffered a "stinger" early in the second quarter of the Packers' 19-13 victory at Denver Monday night. It was the latest in a long line of setbacks for the rookie.
Wynn missed time during the offseason with a strained calf and most of training camp with a stomach virus and quadriceps strain.
He had to come out of the team's Oct. 7 game against Chicago after one series because of dehydration, and missed practice time last week after injuring his neck weightlifting.
On Monday night, Wynn was injured on his only carry, a 1-yard gain from the Packers' 1-yard line, and said afterward he "couldn't feel his shoulder."
Ryan Grant replaced Wynn and rushed for 104 yards, making him the team's first 100-yard rusher since Ahman Green gained 102 yards against the New York Jets on Dec. 3, 2006.
Wynn fell to the seventh round of the NFL Draft in April because of a reputation for a poor work ethic and an inability to play through injuries, but Packers coach Mike McCarthy said the club still believes in him.
"Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game. I think you look at DeShawn Wynn, and I'm very pleased for what he's accomplished in the short time he's been here," McCarthy said. "He's a seventh-round pick. He had to fight like hell at the end of training camp (to make the team). Heck, he was our starting running back at one point.
"It's unfortunate that he has to go down on IR, but we're excited about DeShawn's future here. Because he has all the ability. He can be as good as he wants to be."
Meanwhile, it isn't guaranteed that Robinson will return to action against the Chiefs, despite being officially on the roster.
Robinson experienced soreness in his surgically repaired right knee during the five practices last week, preventing the Packers from activating him for Monday night's game.
McCarthy said the soreness was to be expected after Robinson's one-year suspension for his third violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy.
"That's a lot of work for someone that's just coming in here for the first time (in a year)," McCarthy said, adding he'll decide at the end of the week whether to play Robinson against the Chiefs. "It may take a couple weeks to get that under control. It's just something you have to watch and see."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
