Packers Elevating Cornerback for Sunday vs. Patriots

Starting cornerback Jaire Alexander is questionable for the Green Bay Packers’ game against the New England Patriots.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will elevate cornerback Kiondre Thomas from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, a source told Packer Central, an obvious move with starter Jaire Alexander questionable with a groin injury.

Thomas spent most of training camp running with the No. 3 defense behind the second-team trio of Keisean Nixon, Shemar Jean-Charles and Rico Gafford. He played a lot in the preseason and was tremendous, though. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed 1-of-7 passing for 8 yards. His 59.0 snaps per reception ranked No. 1 among all corners in the preseason (minimum 30 coverage snaps). He also showed a taste for run defense.

Ultimately, Nixon and Jean-Charles made the roster while Gafford and Thomas did not. Gafford and Thomas started the season on the practice squad but Gafford was released a couple weeks ago.

“Man, it’s just hard work and preparation,” Thomas said in explaining his strong preseason. “I feel like I didn’t play the way I needed to my rookie year. In the offseason, I got in the lab and put my head down and got back to work. That’s all I can really do. That’s all I know how to do.”

Asked if his daily grind was paying off, the only thing that mattered to Thomas was earning a spot on the 53.

“We’ll see,” Thomas said. “I can’t really tell you right now. If I don’t make the 53, then I don’t think it paid off.”

Belatedly, Thomas will get that payoff on Sunday against the Patriots.

The elevation of Thomas might be a sign the Packers will take a cautious approach with Alexander, who was injured on the opening series last week at Tampa Bay. With Patriots starting quarterback Mac Jones out with an ankle injury, the Packers will be going up against veteran backup Brian Hoyer.

Not only is Jones out but so is receiver Jakobi Meyers. The Patriots downgraded him to out on Saturday. Meyers was among the league leaders in slot receptions last year. Assuming Alexander doesn’t play, Meyers vs. Nixon would have been a key matchup.

Thomas entered the NFL last year as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas State. He spent his rookie training camp with the Cleveland Browns and joined the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad in September. He wound up playing in four games and logging 28 snaps on special teams.

At Kansas State’s pro day before the 2021 draft, he measured 5-foot-11 3/4 and 186 pounds with a 4.44 time in the 40-yard dash and a 37 1/2-inch vertical jump.

By making it to the NFL, he was given a key to the city of his hometown of Fort Smith, Ark.

“Of course, I wanted to get drafted because that was a dream come true, but there's a lot of superstars out there that went undrafted, and that just lets me know that I'm going to have this chip on my shoulder and I'm going to have to continue to keep on working to get to where I want,” Thomas told the Times Record. “But that's nothing new to me.”

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