Packer Central

Packers-Lions Inactives: Three Starters Out, One Pregame Transaction

Receiver Romeo Doubs, cornerback Jaire Alexander and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper are out for the Packers; four of the Lions’ key players are inactive.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) catches a short pass against the Detroit Lions in 2023.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) catches a short pass against the Detroit Lions in 2023. / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
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DETROIT – The Green Bay Packers listed three starters among their inactives for Thursday night’s game at the Detroit Lions.

Receiver Romeo Doubs (concussion), cornerback Jaire Alexander (knee) and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) were ruled out on Wednesday’s injury report.

Also inactive are cornerback Corey Ballentine (knee) and rookie lineman Jacob Monk.

For the Lions, left tackle Taylor Decker (knee), defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring), defensive tackle D.J. Reader (shoulder) and defensive end Josh Paschal (knee) are starters/key backups who are out.

Doubs was injured during the second half last Sunday against the 49ers. He practiced all week but couldn’t pass through the concussion protocol.

Alexander suffered a knee injury against Jacksonville in Week 8. He missed the Week 9 game against Detroit, returned briefly after the bye at Chicago, and now will miss a third consecutive game. He was limited participation at practice this week.

Cooper, who won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Jacksonville, will miss a second consecutive game.

“He’s always got a smile on him, he’s happy to be here, he loves to work,” position coach Anthony Campanile said. “I think his knowledge in everything and the system, you probably saw that as he was progressing and just playing more and more, playing fast.

“He’s got obviously an elite skill-set athletically, but I think his knowledge of the system is starting to shine through for him. I think his eyes have gotten much better, he’s playing fast, it’s putting him in position to make plays. He’s had some improvement and, like everybody else, I know he’s got a lot left out there that he wants to get better at, so excited for him to keep progressing.”

Without Alexander and Ballentine, the Packers elevated rookie cornerback Kalen King from the practice squad. It will be the NFL debut for the Detroit native.

“It’s very special,” King said after the draft of getting a chance to play against his hometown team. “Me, knowing that I’m in the same division as where I grew up, a team where I grew up at, just knowing I can go compete against those guys in Detroit where I grew up, I’ve got a lot of family there so that’s definitely going to be a big moment for me, for a lot of family to come out, watch the game and things of that nature.”

King was projected as a potential first-round pick entering his final season at Penn State. Instead, he was a seventh-round pick and the third-to-last pick in the draft.

Another seventh-round pick, Carrington Valentine, will play a key role for the Packers against the Lions.

“Obviously, stuff like that happens and you just can’t dwell on it,” Valentine said during training camp. “You fell, you fell, but it’s like, what you going to do with the opportunity they put in front of you? I said it really don’t even matter at this point.

“That seventh-round title, it happened for a day. It’s going to carry through you with people who don’t really know you. They kind of label you as that, but when you get in this building, that title really goes away. It’s basically who’s Kalen King (as a player) or who’s Carrington Valentine? Who is that? That’s the mentality I told him to take.”

The Lions signed receiver Maurice Alexander to the active roster from the practice squad and elevated safety Jamal Adams and linebacker Mitchell Agude from the practice squad.

Alexander is averaging 10.5 yards per punt return. Adams was a first- or second-team All-Pro with the Jets in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He played in three games with one start for the Titans this season. Agude, who played with Campanile in Miami last year, will be making his NFL debut.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.