Packer Central

Packers-Lions Injury Report: Two Critical Starters Return to Practice

Could Jaire Alexander and Romeo Doubs be back in action for the Green Bay Packers’ game at the Detroit Lions on Thursday?

Bill Huber

Packers receiver Romeo Doubs sustained a concussion on this play against the 49ers.
Packers receiver Romeo Doubs sustained a concussion on this play against the 49ers. / Dan Powers-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers could get two of their best players back on the field for their latest biggest game of the season.

With a rematch against the first-place Detroit Lions looming on Thursday night, cornerback Jaire Alexander and receiver Romeo Doubs were back on the practice field.

The only two players who did not practice were linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) and cornerback Corey Ballentine (knee).

Doubs sustained a concussion during the third quarter of the victory over the 49ers on Nov. 17. He remains in the concussion protocol, coach Matt LaFleur said after practice.

Alexander missed the last two games due to a knee injury sustained in the Week 8 game at Jacksonville on Oct. 27 and aggravated when he tried to return two weeks later at Chicago on Nov. 10.

“Anytime you get a premier player at their position, I think that definitely gives you a boost,” said LaFleur, who did not watch Alexander live to get a feel for how he was moving.

Alexander has missed two games with a groin injury and two games with a knee injury. In seven starts, he’s played 47.5 percent of the defensive snaps. Still, he’s second on the team with two interceptions and seven passes defensed.

According to Sports Info Solutions, he’s allowed a catch rate of just 47.8 percent of the time. Green Bay’s other primary corners: Eric Stokes (58.8 percent), Keisean Nixon (62.2 percent) and Carrington Valentine (66.7 percent).

Without Alexander, Stokes and Valentine have split the other snaps. Valentine has one pass breakup and Stokes has zero; in fact, Stokes hasn’t broken up a pass since his rookie season.

The Packers had a big game through the air without him in the victory over the Dolphins, but Doubs’ route-running skill and hands make him a go-to player.

On third down, Doubs is second on the team with 10 receptions on third down and first with nine catches that produced a first-down. He had three third-down conversions on one drive against the 49ers.

“Rome, he’s such a problem if you get him one-on-one with DBs,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said last week. “He’s an excellent route runner. He can win in the quick game. He can win over the middle. He can win on the long ball.

“So, he’s a really versatile wide receiver. The one thing he’s been doing great that people probably haven’t taken notice is his run-blocking. He’s done a really good job in the run game. He’s becoming a total wideout for us.”

The NFL’s injury-report policy is bizarre. When the Packers beat the Bears on Sunday and then hosted the Dolphins on Thursday, the Packers had to produce injury reports on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

That made sense.

This is a full Thursday-to-Thursday workweek, with Sunday’s practice representing a typical Wednesday practice. The NFL, however, does adjust the injury report schedule, though, for these instances.

Instead, the league follows the Sunday-to-Thursday schedule. That means LaFleur didn’t have to produce an injury report on Sunday, but will on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; the team will be flying to Detroit on Wednesday rather than practicing.

After playing two games in five days, coach Matt LaFleur said the team “came out pretty nice” from an injuries perspective.

“We came out pretty clean,” LaFleur said. “I didn’t get to see everybody today. We had everybody come in to get a flush workout and kind of check in with the trainers and whatnot. I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot, but I’ll know more when I get around these guys.”

The Lions have been clobbered by injuries, especially to their defensive front seven.

With four primary linebackers on injured reserve, the Lions signed Kwon Alexander, a Pro Bowler in 2017.

“I know Kwon and certainly A.G. [defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn] knows him, we were with him in New Orleans. We know exactly what he’s suited to do,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said.

“Most of this is going to be carryover for him, a lot of this. Some of the terminology may be a tick different than what he was doing in Denver, but a lot of it is the same as New Orleans. So, I think he’s going to pick up on this fast. We’re going to use him, ask him to do what he does really well.” 

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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.