The Packers (9-8) prepare for a wild-card game against the Cowboys (12-5) on Sunday. But he could be without one of his best defenders in training this week with a “serious” injury. Coach Matt LaFleur told reporters All-Pro CB Jaire Alexander suffered an ankle injury Wednesday and is considering him day-to-day.
“Yesterday was a strange affair,” LaFleur said. “Most times we were running, he would step on someone’s foot and turn their ankle. “I’d say that any day.”The good news, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, is that Alexander was either in a boot or with a significant limp Thursday. But time will tell if he can go on Sunday.
Alexander played in seven games with back and shoulder injuries and was suspended in Week 17, preventing him from having the 2023 season he envisioned.But if the 26-year-old misses this weekend’s game, it would be a blow to a Green Bay defense that ranks ninth in passing yards per game (206.8).
The Packers will be facing one of the best wide receivers in the NFL in CeeDee Lamb, and their secondary will be much more vulnerable with an unhealthy or inactive Alexander. Lamb has been a big reason why the Cowboys have the third-best offense in passing yards per game (258.6). The fourth-year wide receiver has the second-most receiving yards (1,749) and third-most receptions (12) in the league this season.
Alexander may have planned to follow Lamb for most of the game, but now Green Bay must decide whether to do so even if he is active. That’s not the news Packers fans want to hear before their first playoff game of the 2021 season. But they’ll try to upset Dallas on the road with one of the youngest rosters in the NFL.
