The Green Bay Packers (11-5) suffered a blow to their Super Bowl hopes. Their No. 1 Pro Bowl cornerback, Jaire Alexander, underwent surgery on his knee on Tuesday, according to ESPN, to deal with a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his knee.
“He was trying to fix his knee and he wasn’t doing it,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, on Wednesday. “It’s a tough deal for everyone. It sucks that we’re here, but we’re here.
Alexander’s 2024 season is over unless Green Bay reaches the Super Bowl, according to reports from ESPN.
“Ja will most likely be out for the rest of the year,” LaFleur said, according to the team’s website.
Green Bay has been a top-10 scoring defense this season, allowing the sixth-fewest points per game (19.6). His 29 steals this season are the fourth-most in the league, 11 more than his total of 18 a season ago with one game left to play. The additions of new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and safety Xavier McKinney, whose seven interceptions are second-most in the NFL, have been a boost to the Packers unit.
Green Bay will rely on 2023 seventh-round cornerback Carrington Valentine, 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes and veteran cornerback/returner Keisean Nixon to fill the void left by Alexander’s absence. Valentine will likely ascend to the Packers’ No. 1 cornerback in Alexander’s absence: His 46.2 passer rating as a primary coverage defender is 11th best in the NFL among 254 players with at least 25 passes thrown. McKinney’s 29.8 passer rating as a primary coverage defender is third-best in the entire league.
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