Getty Jaire Alexander #23 of the Green Bay Packers looks on during the fourth quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 13, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Packers defeated the Vikings 43-34.
The Green Bay Packers will have one of their injured All-Pro defenders back at practice leading up to Sunday night’s showdown with the Chicago Bears.
Prior to the first practice of Week 14 on December 8, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters that star cornerback Jaire Alexander would begin practicing again this week for the first time in more than two months. He has been on injured reserve with a shoulder injury since October 9 and will now have a 21-day window to be re-activated to the 53-man roster — or else spend the remainder of the season on IR.
While Alexander’s return to practice is a notable step forward for one of the Packers’ top defensive weapons, LaFleur warned that Alexander would be taking things slow and participating only in individual work as he progresses toward a permanent return. The Packers will need to make a roster decision on him by December 29, but they could always activate him without putting him right back in the action as they have done for the past several weeks with All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari.
In the meantime, the Packers are expected to continue on with Eric Stokes and Rasul Douglas as their starting outside cornerbacks while Chandon Sullivan mans the slot. It is possible that Kevin King could challenge for Sullivan’s spot once he returns to the lineup, but he will need to prove he can stay healthy before getting consideration. He has now missed six games on the year after sitting out Week 12 with hip and knee injuries.
The Packers can be expected to shed a bit more light on some of their injured players when they release their first injury report of the week later on Wednesday.
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Nothing New on Za’Darius Smith’s Status … Yet
Alexander and Bakhtiari aren’t the only All-Pro talents the Packers are hoping to have back for the final stretch of the season. There has also been persisting optimism that star pass rusher Za’Darius Smith will have a chance to rejoin the lineup before the year is over despite not yet getting the go-ahead to return to practice.
Smith’s injury outlook has been a bit harder to read than either Alexander or Bakhtiari. The 29-year-old outside linebacker arrived for training camp with a nagging back injury that kept him from participating nearly the entire summer. Then, after managing to play in a limited capacity during the Packers’ season opener, Smith was placed on injured reserve and underwent a corrective procedure on his back that put his status for the rest of 2021 in jeopardy.
Smith, however, has teased the possibility of his return a few times since then through his social media accounts. His latest update came on December 2 when he shared a picture of him in his Packers jersey with the caption: “It’s About That Time.”
“It’s hard to put them all in the same box,” LaFleur said on December 6 about Alexander, Bakhtiari and Smith. “They’re all recovering from different things. So I trust that Flea (head athletic trainer Bryan Engel) and our medical staff have a great plan for these guys in terms of trying to incorporate them back into practice, and then just the whole ready-to-play process for each individual.