Packer Central

Packers-Vikings Inactives: Jaire Alexander Out, Jordan Love Officially In

The Green Bay Packers are going to have their hands full with Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson with two of their top cornerbacks out for Sunday.

Bill Huber

Justin Jefferson at Lambeau Field before a game against the Packers on Jan. 1, 2023.
Justin Jefferson at Lambeau Field before a game against the Packers on Jan. 1, 2023. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers might need Jordan Love to be in midseason form in his return to the lineup, because cornerback Jaire Alexander is inactive for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

With Love officially active, Alexander is out with quad and groin injuries and fellow cornerback Carrington Valentine is inactive with an ankle injury.

So, the Packers will have to handle All-World receiver Justin Jefferson with Eric Stokes, Corey Ballentine and Keisean Nixon.

“I didn't really care if he played or not,” Jefferson said of Alexander being suspended for last year’s Week 17 game in Minneapolis. “During that time, we were fighting to get back into the playoffs and to make our run. That's something that I was looking forward to. I really don't care about the matchup, honestly. I feel like he cares more of it than I do, but I mean it is what it is.

“That's every team, no [knock] at Jaire. That's every team and how they scheme up against me and how they try to play me. So, it doesn't matter if I'm going up against Jaire or if I'm going up against the worst corner in the league, it doesn't matter.”

It’s going to take an incredible defensive effort for Jeff Hafley’s unit to handle a Minnesota offense that ranks third in the NFL in scoring. Quarterback Sam Darnold is second in passer rating, Jefferson is the NFL’s all-time leader in receiving yards per game and 2023 first-round pick Jordan Addison will be back in the lineup.

“Obviously, Jefferson is probably the best wide receiver in the league,” Hafley said.

As he spoke on Thursday afternoon, the game plan might have been for Alexander to shadow Jefferson. At the time, he was limited participation with the quad. On Friday, he didn’t practice. With a groin injury added to the injury report, he was questionable.

“It’s our job to put our best players in a position to make plays, so if it’s our job to put our best players on their best players, then we need to figure out how to do that,” Hafley said. “I’m not just going to walk into a game and say the scheme is just strong enough to stop that great player. That’s just not how I think.

“We got to figure out how to stop their best players each week and if that means doing something a little bit different, then it’s our job to do that.”

In Week 2, Jefferson’s 62nd game in the NFL, he posted his 30th career 100-yard game. That was the fastest to 30 in NFL history.

“He’s a great player. You turn on the tape and it doesn’t take you very long to figure out how good he is,” Hafley said. “He’s big, he can catch the ball, he’s fast, he can run all the routes, he’s good when he catches the ball in catch and run. He’s got incredible hands.

“You’ve got to know where he is and you have to pick and choose times to scheme around him. You can’t just scheme around him the whole game; they have other really good players, too. I think that’s the difference when they’re running the ball really well, too. You just worry about him all game and then you’re going to look down and they’re going to beat you up in the run game. I think that’s what they’ve done such a good job of this year both coaching and playing; they can do both.”

Green Bay’s other inactives are safety Kitan Oladapo, defensive end Brenton Cox, offensive lineman Jordan Morgan (shoulder), offensive tackle Travis Glover and defensive tackle Colby Wooden.

More Green Bay Packers News

Jordan Love is back | Cornerbacks elevated | Packers-Vikings: Reasons why they’ll lose | Packers-Vikings: Reasons why they’ll win | Packers-Vikings Friday injury report | NFC North power rankings | Mark Bavaro? Yes, Mark Bavaro | Xavier McKinney worth every penny | Jordan Love limited, with a twist | Grab an aspirin | “New” player on practice squad | A lot of love for Aaron Jones | Vikings’ Brian Flores raves about Matt LaFleur | Aaron Jones says thank you | Packers and penalties: Do they matter? | How to watch and what to watch | Packers-Vikings matchups

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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.