The Green Bay Packers have their cleanest injury report of the entire season heading into their Week Eight matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. Incredibly, despite the slew of injuries they have suffered, just four players are listed on the report, and all 53 of their active players were able to participate in practice in some way.
Of course, this does not include the players Green Bay has had to place on injured reserve: David Bakhtiari, Darnell Savage, and Eric Stokes.
It does, however, include two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander. Alexander popped up on the Packers’ injury report late in the week leading up to Green Bay’s home opener against the New Orleans Saints. It was reported that he had suffered a back injury, but no one in the organization revealed how it happened.
Many assumed that it was just part of the game of football. After all, the NFL is a physical business that sees players suffer any assortment of injuries at various levels of severity all the time.
But this injury kept Alexander out for the Saints game, then the Detroit Lions game, and while he played against the Las Vegas Raiders, he missed last week’s game against the Denver Broncos.
On Friday, Alexander himself revealed what caused the injury.
Jaire Alexander Hurt His Back Colliding with Green Bay Packers Practice Squad Quarterback Alex McGough
After practice on Friday, in which Alexander was a limited participant, Alexander spoke with some reporters at his locker. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic,
“Jaire Alexander said today he originally injured his back colliding with practice squad QB Alex McGough, who was playing scout-team TE in practice. He’s listed as questionable to play against the Vikings after missing game in Denver and said, ‘I have a good shot’ to play Sunday.”
Alexander also talked about toughing out the injury to face the Raiders and former teammate, Davante Adams:
“Playing (every snap) in that Raiders game, that s**t hurt. But you know, I was going against Tae. It didn’t matter. We was expected to win that game last week, so they need me out there.”
Unfortunately, practice injuries can be just had devastating as in-game injuries. Remember, Bakhtiari first tore his ACL in a non-contact drill during practice.
Hopefully Alexander can get back on the field for the Vikings’ game. Even though Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson is on IR, Jordan Addison has proved to be a legitimate wide receiver worthy of some special attention.
