Packers-Lions Final Injury Report: Seven Starters Out For Showdown

Even though they practiced all week, Jaire Alexander and Romeo Doubs are out for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Detroit Lions cornerback Mike Hughes (23) and safety Kerby Joseph (31) tackle Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs in 2022. / Junfu Han-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – While Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander and receiver Romeo Doubs practiced all week, they have been ruled out for Thursday night’s NFC North showdown at the Detroit Lions.

Also out for the Packers are linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) and cornerback Corey Ballentine (knee). They did not practice this week.

The Lions ruled out four starters: left tackle Taylor Decker and defensive linemen Levi Onwuzurike, D.J. Reader and Josh Paschal.

Doubs suffered a concussion during the victory against San Francisco last Sunday and was inactive on Thursday against the Dolphins. While he practiced all week, he had not cleared the concussion protocol as of Tuesday afternoon.

Alexander sustained a knee injury on the final play of the win at Jacksonville. He was inactive for the Lambeau Field loss to the Lions and tried to return after the bye against Chicago, only to aggravate the injury. This will be a third consecutive week out of the lineup for Alexander, who has played less than half the defensive snaps this season.

“When they tell me he’s good to go,” Alexander will return, coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “Obviously, the player has a part in that if he has the confidence to go out there and perform.

“So, when it all checks out, I think as coaches, we’re not going to put somebody out there that we don’t feel can go out there and get the job done. There’s an assessment that we make in terms of how they look at practice, whether or not they can go out there and get the job done.”

The pressure will be on Keisean Nixon, Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine and Javon Bullard to slow down Detroit’s high-flying passing game. Nixon, who had been the team’s slot defender the past couple seasons, has spent most of the season as an every-snap perimeter corner. Stokes and Valentine have been in a timeshare at the other corner spot and Bullard, a rookie who spent all of training camp at safety, has manned the slot.

They will have to contend with quarterback Jared Goff, who is second in the NFL in passer rating, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, who is fourth in receptions.

“The first thing I would say to that is earned it, for one, and the second part of that conversation is a change of scenery’s always good for everybody,” defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley said of Nixon on Tuesday.

“When me and Jeff (Hafley) both got here, we’re both DB guys. We picked Brian (Gutekunst’s) brain on his skill-set and, once we got on the grass with him in OTAs, I’m like, ‘Yeah. This guy’s got some unique skills.’ So, we started to dibble and dabble in that, and we knew Bull was going to be a good player somewhere, and we kind of had an idea that Evan (Williams) could kind of run the show back there (at safety) with X(avier McKinney).

“So, to get our best people on the field, you kind of move those guys around in camp to see who’s your best five, who’s your best six, and he’s done a really good job of investing in himself and learning that position and he’s going to get better every week.”

This will be a third consecutive game on the sideline for Cooper, the team’s impressive rookie. Fortunately for Green Bay, Quay Walker is coming off two excellent seasons and Isaiah McDuffie had a strong performance vs. Miami.

For Detroit, being short three defensive linemen – with defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport on injured reserve – could leave it vulnerable against the Josh Jacobs-led running game.

Hutchinson was on a Defensive Player of the Year projection before suffering a broken leg and Paschal had been Hutchinson’s replacement. Reader had started all 11 games this season and Onwuzurike had started six games and trails only Hutchinson in quarterback hits.

Decker is a big loss, too. He had allowed six sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, and none since the Week 9 loss at Green Bay. Dan Skipper started for Decker last week against Chicago.

Cornerbacks Carlton Davis (knee) and Emmanuel Moseley (hamstring) are off the report and will play on Thursday. Davis is the team’s best corner.

“I don’t feel as good about Decker for this week,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday. “I felt like CD (Davis) looked pretty good yesterday, looked real good actually, so barring nothing else today in practice I feel pretty good there. I think the rest of it’s going to take a minute here. See what today and tomorrow look like.”

Green Bay Packers Final Injury Report

Out: CB Jaire Alexander (knee), CB Corey Ballentine (knee), WR Romeo Doubs (concussion), LB Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring).

Detroit Lions Final Injury Report

Out: LT Taylor Decker (knee), DT Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring), DE Josh Paschal (knee), DT D.J. Reader (shoulder).

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If the #Packers can knock off the Lions tomorrow night, it opens the door to Green Bay winnning the No. 1 seed. ⬇️https://t.co/gvDlNqApkA

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 4, 2024

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