GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers suspended cornerback Jaire Alexander for Sunday night’s game at Minnesota for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
While apparently not the entire issue, Alexander went on the field for the coin toss last Sunday in Carolina, even though he was not a captain for the game.
Alexander called the toss and said the Packers wanted their defense on the field. The exact verbiage he should have used is “defer.”
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur had already stated the team’s preference to officials.
LaFleur, who said he made the decision in concert with General Manager Brian Gutekunst, knows that suspending Alexander as the Packers get ready to face Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings comes with risks. He felt he had no choice.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re at that juncture,” said LaFleur. “Felt like it was in the best interest, long term for our team, and for Jaire. It was a tough decision, especially where we’re at right now, and one we don’t take lightly. But there are standards that are we’re all held accountable for and when they’re not met, unfortunately, sometimes you got to take some drastic measures. However, I will say that we’ll get him back and we’re looking forward to getting him back. I think we had a long conversation this morning. I thought it was very productive. In the long run, although it’s painful now, I think we’re all going to be better for this moving forward.”
“I know ‘Ja. I’m going to stand by ‘Ja,” said Packers cornerback Eric Stokes. “That’s my teammate and my brother, no matter what. It is what it is. It was Matt’s decision. I’m just sticking by Matt, whatever the head coach says.”
“He has a unique personality,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love. “I think ‘Ja is a great teammate. I think he always has the right interest in his heart.”
Vikings receiver Jefferson missed the first meeting with injury. Alexander has had success against him in the past, but the Packers won’t have him Sunday night.
“Next man up,” said LaFleur. “That’s a mentality that, no matter what position, it’s a competitive situation. We’re going to put the guys in there that we feel that are going to give us the best opportunity to win the football game.”
“We still got dawgs in the room,” said Stokes. ”It don’t matter. It’s time for CV (Carrington Valentine), me, CB (Corey Ballentine), Key (Keisean Nixon), all of us. We got dawgs in the room, just not ‘Ja. Yeah, it’s a big loss or whatever, but we got other dawgs, other animals in the room.”
“I think there will be probably better communication moving forward,” said LaFleur. “I think ‘Ja is going to be here a long time. He’s a hell of a player, and just looking to move past this and learn from it. We’ll all move forward and be better for it.”
As far as injury updates, De’Vondre Campbell, Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks did not practice.
If there’s one thing people know about Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, it’s that he loves to blitz. Love said he’ll be ready for it.
“I think we’ve grown a lot,” said Love. “Just watching our first game that we played against the Vikings yesterday, just kind of seeing the plays that were being made, kind of some of the missed opps we had.”
Love said Sunday’s close victory at Carolina shows the strides the Packers’ offense has made.
“The way we’re meshing right now,” said Love. “Last game, getting in a hole, having a couple of three and outs late in the game and then having a tie game. Just able to take that last drive, we marched down the field and, when we needed it, that’s just growth right there.”
According to Love, the Packers’ offense is staying humble. “No one thinks we’ve arrived,” said Love.
The Packers and Vikings have split their season series the last three years. That bodes well for the Packers, who lost to the Vikings at Lambeau Field in late October.
“They got a lot of talented receivers,” said LaFleur. “They’ve thrown for a lot of yards, in particular these last couple of weeks. Justin Jefferson’s the best in the game, so it’s going to be a great challenge for us. I think one that we got to make sure that we’ve put in the work throughout the course of the week and our guys will be excited for that challenge come Sunday Night Football.”
The Packers’ defense, under coordinator Joe Barry, has been under fire. Their performance against the Vikings will be closely monitored.
“For three quarters (against Carolina), we played pretty solid defense,” said LaFleur. “The last quarter was not good. Give credit to them. They made a lot of great throws and great plays. I think we can play at a much higher level and we’ve shown that throughout the course of the season.”
Both the Packers and Vikings are 7-8. Both need a win Sunday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.