A 4th-round rookie has turned out to be a linchpin in the defensive backfield.
At this point, getting a long-term answer on Jaire Alexander’s health is good enough. The Green Bay Packers cornerback will likely be out for the rest of the 2024 season — however long that lasts — and the only solace is that speculation can be put to rest after he has been practicing consistently of late.
Now that the team knows he will not be available, they need to find a combination in the secondary that will carry them through the postseason. And that, more than just Alexander’s absence, has been a challenge recently.
Injuries to several other players have raised the difficulty level of that challenge. Perhaps the most impactful injury in the defensive backfield has been to Evan Williams, the 4th-round rookie safety. With Williams in the lineup, Xavier McKinney has primarily played the deep safety role with Williams as more of a box safety. But Williams being out means that the Packers have rolled with Javon Bullard or Zayne Anderson in his place in the lineup but playing mostly deep safety — at least until Anderson got a concussion early in last Sunday’s game in Minnesota.
The lineup that Packers fans (and increasingly, it seems, the team’s coaches) prefer would involve Eric Stokes on the sidelines. A grouping of McKinney and Williams on the back end with Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon on the boundary and Bullard in the slot seems like the best option for now. But with Williams and now Anderson continuing to be unavailable, there’s not much left for Green Bay to do but put Bullard in the back and play Stokes with Nixon again in the slot.
Regardless of who the Packers’ Wild Card opponents are, there will be at least one and likely two elite receivers to cover in that game. Getting Williams back and healthy would go a long way to making that a possibility.
Packers look to press on without Jaire Alexander | Packers.com
At this point, the Packers have played more without Alexander this season than with him, and he has played just 10 snaps since the bye.
Without Jaire Alexander, Packers’ Season Hinges on Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine | SI.com
If Evan Williams can return from injury, the Packers might be able to keep Stokes on the sideline by putting Javon Bullard in the slot. But if not, Stokes will be a mainstay on the field in nickel.
NFL All-Pro team 2024: 50 best players, picks at every position – ESPN
Xavier McKinney is the one pick for the Packers — and it’s well-deserved, as the team has allowed only one pass completion of 30+ air yards on 15 attempts all season.
Packers hoping old friend Mike McCarthy can provide a favor in Week 18 | Packers Wire
Do us a solid, hey Mike?
Packers’ Matt LaFleur sounds off on criticism of Tucker Kraft’s low block – The Athletic ($)
LaFleur thinks that Jonathan Greenard should look at the film of his own offense doing the same thing before throwing shade on someone else.
Man Drunk with Crossbow, Sword and Knives in Middle of a Street Again | Y99.3
The most surprising word in this headline is the last one: “again.”