Saturday’s Packers Transactions: What They Mean for Sunday vs. Bears

The Green Bay Packers made three roster moves for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, including placing former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander on injured reserve.

Michigan linebacker Michael Barrett tackles Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe at the Rose Bowl / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers placed cornerback Jaire Alexander on injured reserve on Saturday and chose not to fill the roster spot.

Instead, the Packers elevated rookie linebacker Michael Barrett and rookie safety Omar Brown from the practice squad to spots on the gameday roster for Sunday's home game against the Chicago Bears.

Alexander suffered a knee injury in the game before the bye against Jacksonville on Oct. 27. After the bye, he played in 10 snaps against Chicago before removing himself from the lineup.

While he practiced frequently, sometimes as full participation, he was unable to get himself into a good enough place to get back on the field.

“Ja was practicing, he was trying to come back. So, there’s always hope, right?” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said on Thursday. “He was out there last week still trying to practice. So, I kept that in the back of my mind and was hopeful we’d get him back. He worked for it, he kept pushing himself, and it didn’t work out.

“So, now, it’s definitive, it’s not there anymore, so now certainly there’s no more thinking about what we would do differently if he were in the game.”

Including Sunday’s game against the Bears, the Packers will have played 68 games in the regular season. He will have missed exactly half of those games. Alexander has played 35.2 percent of the defensive snaps this season. Still, he’s tied for second on the team with seven passes defensed.

The Packers are rolling with their current cornerbacks – Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Eric Stokes, Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell – and decided not to promote either of their practice-squad corners, rookies Kamal Hadden and Kalen King.

“I feel for Ja,” Hafley said. “We’ve been counting on the guys who’ve been on the field (and) they’ve been doing a really good job, so there is no looking back or what-ifs. It’s just full speed ahead with how we’ve been playing and each week how we can evolve and get better. But I’m proud of the guys who’ve been in because I do think they’re getting better.”

The Packers signed Barrett to the practice squad on Nov. 30.

Barrett, a captain of Michigan’s national-championship defense last season, was a seventh-round pick by the Carolina Panthers this year.

He was traded to the Seattle Seahawks during training camp, and he served practice-squad stints with the Seahawks and Cleveland Browns before latching on with the Packers.

At Michigan, Barrett played in 62 games with 35 starts over six seasons. He was third-team all-Big Ten during each of his final two seasons. In 2023, he had 65 tackles, three sacks and four tackles for losses.

“Coming into the contact with bad intentions, that's the goal every time,” he said after being drafted.

At 5-foot-11 3/8 and 239 pounds, he’s a bit undersized for the position, which probably led to him not being drafted.

“Honestly, I've always kind of been an underdog,” he said in a Panthers.com diary. “The one that's been overlooked. I've always had to work my way back, using my emotions. (There's) motivation to, not really get back at, but prove everybody wrong. I've heard all the negatives about me or why I didn't get drafted higher or why this and that.

“They asked me if I had a chip on my shoulder from it and I feel like I have a whole bag.”

This will be Barrett’s first time on the gameday roster. Starter Quay Walker will miss a third consecutive game with an injured ankle.

This is the third time the Packers have elevated Brown including last week, when he was inactive for his return to his hometown of Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Vikings.

The Packers are dealing with injuries to safeties Evan Williams (quad) and Zayne Anderson (concussion), both of whom are out for Sunday.

Brown had eight interceptions at Northern Iowa before spending his final two seasons at Nebraska. He had one interception last season.

Brown went undrafted but got a big contract from the Broncos.

“He’s easy to like,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “He’s got a great personality, comes into work, always is busting his butt and working as hard as he can every day. What an opportunity for him. To get him in the game and have some snaps was big for him.”

Latest Green Bay Packers News 

Matt LaFleur had no idea that Sunday's game against the Bears will be his 100th as coach of the #Packers.

On Thursday, we talked about:

- Memories from Game 1.
- Self-doubt.
- A lot of winning.
- The pressure to win it all. ⬇️https://t.co/x5v7J60II6

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 4, 2025

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