The Green Bay Packers will be without their top two cornerbacks on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. The team announced Saturday that Eric Stokes suffered a knee injury, just days after Jair Alexander was suspended with a team injury. He was suspended from the game.
The Packers eventually placed Stokes on injured reserve. That means he can only return if the team makes a deep playoff run this season. He probably won’t be back until the NFC Championship game. It’s been a terrible season for Stokes. He began the year on the physically unable to play list and was still recovering from knee and ankle injuries suffered in Week 9 of the 2022 season. Stokes returned in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, but suffered a hamstring injury after playing just four special teams. He missed the next seven games.
The third-year quarterback returned two weeks ago against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was a starter on defense last week against the Carolina Panthers. He was expected to be the starting cornerback on Sunday and will practice all week. Initially, he showed no signs of injury in the match. This is a new injury and means Stokes is ruled out with immediate effect. The Packers will once again have depth issues at cornerback. A good trio to start the season with is Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas.
But Alexander was suspended, Stokes was injured, and Douglas was traded to the Buffalo Bills at the deadline. The starting lineup again includes seventh-round picks Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine and Keysian Nixon. To make matters worse, backup cornerback Robert Rochelle’s neck injury is also questionable. He was limited in practice all week. The only cornerback on the active 53-man roster is David Long, who was released by the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 5.
The Packers still have Zion Gilbert on the practice squad, but he has not been promoted. The Packers have had enough of their injury woes this week. Linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (neck), wide receiver Christian Watson (height), tight end Luke Musgrave (height) and tackles Luke Tenuta and Emanuel Wilson (shoulder) are all questionable.Rochelle (neck), safety Darnell Savage (shoulder), defensive tackle TJ Slayton (knee/ankle) and wide receiver Dontaivion Weeks (chest/ankle) are questionable.
