Injury Updates: Packers Suffer Painful Loss to Vikings

The Green Bay Packers lost to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, with Jaire Alexander and Carrington Valentine inactive and Christian Watson and Devonte Wyatt suffering ankle injuries.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson is injured as he is hit by Minnesota Vikings safety Josh Metellus. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers might have lost Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings before kickoff.

Good luck beating a team featuring receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison while playing without two of your best corners.

Three-time All-Pro Jaire Alexander was inactive with quad and groin injuries and Carrington Valentine, who played more snaps than starter Eric Stokes in Week 2, missed a second consecutive game with an ankle injury.

Making matters worse, the Packers lost Christian Watson on their final offensive snap of the first quarter and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt in the fourth quarter due to ankle injuries.

After the game, coach Matt LaFleur said he hadn’t talked to the training staff but he had talked to Watson, who told him it was a sprain.

According to NFL Network, Watson suffered a high-ankle sprain that could land him on injured reserve.

No fracture for Christian Watson, but a high-ankle sprain that could land him on Injured Reserve. https://t.co/hMuZszb2LS

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 30, 2024

That would be a bad-news/good-news outcome considering how badly Watson’s ankle got twisted on Jordan Love’s interception. Losing Watson for at least four games would hurt the offense, but the injury seemingly could have been much worse.

Wyatt was injured with about 9 minutes to go on Sam Darnold’s 27-yard completion to Jefferson.

“I’m not sure. I’ll find out more tomorrow,” Wyatt said after the game with a boot on his foot and crutches at his locker.

Wyatt said he’d have an MRI done on Monday. He was able to put “a real little bit” of weight on it.

“I don’t think it’s too bad,” Wyatt said of the pain. “It’s kind of hard to tell because my adrenaline is still going. So, it’s kind of hard to tell. It could be worse in a little bit.”

Wyatt had two sacks against Tennessee and a tackle for loss against Minnesota. If he is out, Colby Wooden – a fourth-round pick last year who played zero defensive snaps in Week 1 and was inactive the last three games – would get his first real opportunity.

Alexander was limited participation at practice on Wednesday due to an injured quad. At Thursday’s practice, he suffered a groin injury that ultimately kept him out of the lineup on Sunday.

“It happened on a play in practice,” LaFleur said. “That’s part of football. I don’t think it’s going to be anything too significant or too long term, but we’ll see if he’s available this week or not.”

Not having your best cornerback is a problem in any game. Compounding it this week was the opponent – the consensus best receiver in the NFL, Jefferson – and the fact that the game plan had been created with Alexander potentially in a featured role.

“Yeah, I’m not going to go down that road. It is what it is,” LaFleur said. “It’s no different than an in-game injury. You’ve got to make an adjustment as a staff and, to me, that’s an excuse. I will never use that around here. Like, next man up. We’ve got to adjust our game plan if need be.

“Does it help you? Absolutely not. You want your best players out there. But I’ll never go down that road of using that as an excuse.”

Valentine, meanwhile, is “week to week” with an ankle injury, according to a source.

Valentine missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury, which essentially ended his anticipated battle with Stokes before it could start.

In the opener against Philadelphia, Valentine played just one series. A week later against the Colts, Valentine played 32 snaps vs. 24 for Stokes.

However, an ankle injury kept Valentine out for the past two games. Against the Vikings, Stokes and Keisean Nixon served as the corners in the base defense and Corey Ballentine entered in nickel situations. They were ineffective. Justin Jefferson caught 6-of-8 targets for 85 yards and one touchdown, Jordan Addison caught 3-of-4 targets for 72 yards and one touchdown and Jalen Nailor caught 1-of-2 targets for 31 yards.

As is the case with Alexander, Valentine’s status for Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Rams is uncertain.

At least quarterback Jordan Love got out of the game relatively unscathed. After missing the last two games with a knee injury, the Vikings knocked him around. With the Packers forced to drop back to pass 56 times, Love was sacked once, scrambled once and was hit 10 times.

“It feels fine coming out and, as far as affecting me, no,” Love said. “I was able to play through it, took a hit to it [on the scramble], which, just had some pain on that, but was able to play a full game.”

Love was not sharp for most of the game but might have found his way during the final five series, when he went 15-of-19 for 222 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

“I think he’s a hell of a competitor,” Love said. “We’ve got a lot of trust, belief and faith in him, and I love how he battles. That’s one of the things that you absolutely love about him is his composure. He’s never too high, never too low and he keeps competing and he keeps battling. I’m super-proud of his effort.”

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After searching far and wide for a kicker, the #Packers chose Door No. 6 with rookie Brayden Narveson.

So, what now after two more misses in a two-point loss?https://t.co/8qKG285FHk

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 30, 2024

What’s next at kicker? | Packers report card | Jordan Love was rusty in return to lineup | Lack of composure | Game story: Vikings 31, Packers 29 | Packers stock report