Rasul Douglas got to play the hero for the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 when he picked off Kyler Murray in the end zone with seconds remaining and helped seal their 24-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. And frankly, the timing and venue couldn’t have been any better for the cornerback.
Douglas had been sitting on the Cardinals’ practice squad just 22 days prior to his win-clinching moment for the Packers, having gone from an 11-game starter with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 to a forgotten name among Arizona’s reserve players in 2021. The experience, he said, made him feel like he was “working for nothing.”
Less than a month later, the 27-year-old cornerback is thriving on the Packers’ active roster and coming off his second straight quality start in relief of the injured Kevin King. Douglas showed out on the road against his former team with a team-high nine tackles and his first interception since his 2018 season in Philadelphia, even putting a cherry on top with a parting message for the deflated Arizona home crowd.
“Bye, bye!”
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Douglas Has Stabilized Packers’ CB Room
Douglas didn’t have to search hard for a word to describe the way he felt following his game-ending interception on Thursday night.
“Blessed. Blessed. Blessed, man,” Douglas said in the postgame. “You’re in a crazy mental state being in the league five years, never been on the practice squad before. And then, one day, you’re on the practice squad, feeling like you’re working for nothing kind of, and then you get a call and you’re somewhere else and you’re just playing.”
Easy to understand why Douglas is feeling blessed given where his NFL career stood just a few months ago. He had initially signed with the Las Vegas Raiders during the 2021 offseason for an outside chance at competing for a starting job, but a rough stretch in late August saw him bounce from Vegas to Houston to Arizona, where he faced an uphill climb to even be considered for playing time.
Now, heading into November, Douglas is playing so well that the Packers will have to think long and hard about benching him as their cornerback room gets back to full strength. Jaire Alexander will no doubt reclaim his No. 1 role when he is healthy again, but Eric Stokes is still going through some of the (expected) ups and downs that come with a rookie being thrown into the fire. A rotational role — or potentially replacing Chandon Sullivan in the slot — might be a better fit for the defense if Douglas can hold down the other side of the field.
Douglas also seems to be a steadier option than Kevin King at the moment. While King has played stretches of good football this season for the Packers, he has also missed five of eight games with two different injury issues. Availability has long been an issue for King throughout his five seasons in Green Bay, but this might be the first time the Packers have a replacement option who is playing better than him.
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Packers Hero Rasul Douglas Had 2 Words for Cardinals Crowd After INT