The Green Bay Packers shared some unfortunate injury news regarding cornerback Jaire Alexander, who the team expects to sideline him for at least one game.
On Wednesday, November 8, Green Bay listed Alexander on its injury report with a shoulder problem he suffered in the previous game against the Los Angeles Rams. Alexander’s back injury at the beginning of the season has already cost the CB three games this year.
Alexander’s shoulder problem kept him out of practice all week, and the Packers listed him as questionable Friday for this weekend’s road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported later that day that Alexander was believed to be on injured reserve (IR). – A source told ESPN on Friday that Alexander likely won’t be placed on injured reserve, which would require him to miss at least four games, but that Alexander will need to increase range of motion in his shoulder before returning to action. play,” Demovsky wrote. “This is not the same shoulder that Alexander injured in 2021, which kept him out for most of the season,” the source said.
Packers cornerback room depleted by injuries, trade
Eric Stokes Robert Rochell Roster moves
Getty
Green Bay Packers cornerback Eric Stokes ended up on injured reserve just one game after returning in 2022 from knee and foot injuries.
The cornerback, touted as the strength of Green Bay’s 2023 campaign, was in turmoil midway through the year due to injuries and significant departures.
Eric Stokes suffered midway through last season with knee and leg injuries that required surgery. He returned to the roster before the team’s game against the Denver Broncos on October 22, but strained his hamstring on special teams in that game. Green Bay later placed Stokes on IR, where he must remain for at least two more weeks.
The Packers then made a surprise trade that sent Rasul Douglas to the Buffalo Bills and traded their fifth-round pick for the Bills’ third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The move was difficult for several players in the locker room, namely running back Aaron Jones and cornerback Keisean Nixon, who both spoke about it publicly.
Green Bay’s decision to move on from Douglas signaled that the organization doesn’t believe it has a good chance of making the playoffs this year and is cutting payroll and stockpiling draft picks for a rebuild that began the moment general manager Brian Gutekunst traded Aaron Rodgers. . to the New York Jets.
The Packers protect the Steel with an inexperienced secondary
Getty
Cornerback Carrington Valentine of the Green Bay Packers. With the chaos in the secondary, Green Bay’s top three options at the position heading to Pittsburgh this week are Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Corey Ballentine.
Valentine, a seventh-round pick, did well against the Rams’ dynamic receiving duo of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua last week. He played well enough to earn praise from Alexander and the rest of the organization.
– [Valentine] played in the top three in the league and that is exciting to see. He’s going to keep doing it because that’s the norm now,” Alexander told The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “I couldn’t be happier to play with someone like that.”
The Steelers lack a dynamic air attack, ranking 29th in the NFL in total passing yards with 1,646 yards on the season (206 yards per game). However, the Packers backup cornerback team will likely have their hands full with Pittsburgh’s talented wide receivers in Diontae Johnson and George Pickens.
Max Dible covers the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Golden State Warriors for Heavy.com. He covered local and national news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director at BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group and the Big Island family of radio stations before joining Heavy. Learn more about Max Dible.
Leave a Reply