Questions lingered about the status of Jaire Alexander for the closing stages of the regular season and the playoffs. The Packers corner should not be expected to return, however.
Head coach Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday that Alexander underwent knee surgery. As a result, he is likely to be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. While this was an arthroscopic procedure, the odds point to the talented cornerback not being able to return. That said, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter does note that a Super Bowl LIX return could be in the cards. Green Bay would need to likely win three road games for that to be in play.
As was the case last season and during the 2021 campaign, Alexander has been unable to stay on the field for the Packers. He will wrap this season having played in only seven games, none since November 17. Prior to undergoing the scope, Alexander continued to reinjure his knee in practice, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein writes.
A November report indicated Alexander sustained a PCL tear, making it fairly interesting no surgery commenced at that point. The timeline here stings the Packers, though they have made do without their high-priced boundary defender in the weeks since. Part of the Packers’ effort to replace Alexander last season, Carrington Valentine has started the past six games. He has teamed with Keisean Nixon and Eric Stokes in this adjusted CB contingent.
The Pack have been largely unable to play Alexander and Stokes together. The latter, a 2021 first-round pick, saw extensive run while Alexander was sidelined with a shoulder injury in 2021 but then saw his career altered by knee and foot trouble the following season. Stokes barely played last year, as Alexander missed nine games. Stokes has made his return during a contract year; Pro Football Focus has him slotted 71st among CB regulars.
As Green Bay has Stokes on an expiring contract, Alexander has not justified his extension. Prior to Patrick Surtain‘s four-year, $96MM deal, Alexander’s four-year, $84MM pact had paced corners for more than two years. Although the 2018 first-round pick played 16 games during a Pro Bowl 2022 season, he has not followed that up with regular attendance. The 19 games missed over the past two seasons could certainly impact Alexander’s future in Green Bay.
Alexander is under contract through 2026 and is only closing out his age-27 season. We are also about a year removed from his coin-toss incident in Charlotte, which led to a one-game suspension and speculation about how the Packers would proceed. GM Brian Gutekunst shut down any trade rumors, and the Packers moved forward with their No. 1 corner. It would cost them more than $18MM in dead money to move on after this year, though that could be spread out over two offseasons via a post-June 1 release. However, the Packers would create a major need at the position by going in this direction.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
This sounds so much like David Bakhtiari it’s scary. You can’t count on Alexander to be a regular contributor at this point anymore. And regardless of whether or not they release him they have to find more help at corner next year. Pass rusher is also a problem and I don’t see how you fix either of them easily drafting in the mid 20s again.
So frustrating
Makes a person wonder if the medical staff isn’t handling things right.
They changed the training medical staff in the offseason. peoples bodies heal differently. Some people never recover from an injury.
Maybe 2 medical staffs mishandled 2 completely unrelated situations.
Or coaches/management did.
The surgery nor the pending release aren’t what created a major need at the position. First, even when HE was (supposedly) healthy, they needed another CB. Second, he’s been out half this season and missed half the possible games over the last 3 seasons. In hindsight, last off-season was the time to move on from him.
I’m still wondering why it took so long to have the surgery. And why, if it wasn’t healing correctly or whatever, was he practicing as recently as last week.
Edge rush, CB and maybe WR look like the priority to draft first round. But the stud edge rushes and WRs will be gone by the early 20s. Looking like it’ll be Alexander’s replacement drafted with their first pick.
Is there not a better team to steal money from? A few fans are regularly pissed off that a player is bot available for his job who are also owners because they have the certificate on their wall at home. But media and most fans are almost never outraged.