{"id":5303,"date":"2024-12-03T22:39:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T22:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303"},"modified":"2024-12-03T22:39:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T22:39:21","slug":"breaking-jaire-alexanders-potential-return-couldnt-come-at-a-better-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander&#8217;s (Potential) Return Couldn&#8217;t Come At A Better Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<section id=\"post-hero-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zonecoverage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/USATSI_24787049_168402173_lowres-1024x759.jpg\" alt=\"Jaire Alexander's (Potential) Return Couldn't Come At A Better Time - Zone Coverage\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div>\n<p>The Green Bay Packers are apparently heating up at the right time, playing their two best games of the season back to back, but they\u2019ll need to keep building momentum to face their most important game of the season \u2014 this Thursday\u2019s divisional matchup against the Detroit Lions.<\/p>\n<p>The Packers might be 9-3, but they\u2019re only in third place in the dog-eat-dog NFC North. The 11-1 Detroit Lions and the 10-2 Minnesota Vikings reign over the Packers in the playoff race, and Green Bay has lost to each of them once. While the Packers are in good shape to snag a Wild Card spot, Matt LaFleur\u2019s squad has their sights set on loftier goals.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, they\u2019ll be able to count on cornerback Jaire Alexander\u2018s services in this vital divisional matchup. Things are trending toward Alexander playing against the Lions after two consecutive days of practice. Alexander\u2019s status won\u2019t be clear until closer to gametime, but his presence would be a difference-maker as part of an ascending defense.<\/p>\n<p>Injuries have limited the star cornerback\u2019s availability this season, causing him to appear in just seven games this season. Alexander was on a pitch count against the Chicago Bears in Week 11 and made an early exit after re-aggravating a knee ligament injury that started in Week 8. Alexander missed the past two games (victories over the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins), and while the defense weathered the storm, it\u2019s a much better unit with Alexander in play.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Packers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Packers<\/a> coach Matt LaFleur said cornerback Jaire Alexander is progressing. He said there will be an assessment on how he looks in practice before they decide whether he will play Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomSilverstein\/status\/1863670251654689273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Even while missing time, Alexander is still one of the league\u2019s best corners when available, maintaining a 75.2 PFF score, and, for what it\u2019s worth, is currently CB5 in Pro Bowl voting.<\/p>\n<p>The Packers didn\u2019t have Alexander in their first matchup against the Lions, a 24-14 loss at home. The Lions might be best on the ground, but they feature a dominant passing attack with mighty receivers as well. The Packers tried to counter with their base defense, but they couldn\u2019t stop Jared Goff, who completed 81.8% of his passes.<\/p>\n<p>Offensively, the Packers arguably outplayed the Lions, having more rushing yards, passing yards, and first downs. But self-inflicted mistakes and an inability to get to Goff put the Packers in the L column.<\/p>\n<p>Since that loss, Jeff Hafley\u2019s defense has evolved and found better ways to live without their best corner.<\/p>\n<p>Hafley leaned on his improved safety room, playing Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams deep to minimize damage. The linebackers, arguably the weak point of the defense this season, have improved over the past two weeks, with Isaiah McDuffie playing good, physical football and Quay Walker playing some of the best ball of his career, thanks to Hafley using him more as a blitzer.<\/p>\n<p>The pass rush is coming alive after the Preston Smith trade, harassing the quarterback and making the secondary\u2019s life much easier.<\/p>\n<p>All of these factors helped lessen the burden on Carrington Valentine, Eric Stokes, and Keisean Nixon. Valentine is seeing more play after seemingly being forgotten for most of the season. While Stokes and Nixon have had their shortcomings, they played some of their best ball against Miami.<\/p>\n<p>The Packers still struggled defending the middle of the field and gave up some garbage-time yardage to the Dolphins, but the defense made stops when it mattered. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, one of the league\u2019s better one-two punches at receiver, were well limited.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander surprisingly has not played in a divisional game this season, unless you count 10 first-quarter snaps against the Bears. Coincidentally, two of the Packers\u2019 three losses were to divisional rivals. This is a perfect game to get Alexander back.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If Jaire Alexander can play Thursday it&#39;ll be his first divisional game of the season. <\/p>\n<p>He missed 3 NFC North games already this year after missing 3 last year.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Peter_Bukowski\/status\/1863689800428950009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Green Bay\u2019s defense evolved when it needed to. Adding Alexander back into the mix can make for an even more potent attack in this divisional rematch.<\/p>\n<p>The Lions are still the NFC\u2019s best team but are coming off a close game against the Bears, where they were saved by some of the worst game-management decisions imaginable. Since their victory over Green Bay, the Lions also narrowly won a game where Goff through five interceptions. As good as the Lions are on both sides of the ball, they aren\u2019t an infallible juggernaut.<\/p>\n<p>Alexander can be a factor by limiting Amon-Ra St. Brown in the passing game, forcing Goff to attempt risky throws that lead to turnovers, which will be the key to overtaking the Lions. If the pass rush can continue its upswing, they can make Goff\u2019s life uncomfortable and allow Alexander and the secondary to feast.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unfortunate that Alexander has missed so much time since signing his extension in 2022, but Green Bay\u2019s defense is undeniably better with No. 23 on the field. When healthy, he\u2019s continued to be a star player. Hafley\u2019s defense learned to play around his absence, leading to an upward-trending unit. Add their best cornerback back into the mix, and that defense can help the Packers survive the brutal divisional race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Green Bay Packers are apparently heating up at the right time, playing their two best games of the season back to back, but they&#8217;ll need to keep<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Jaire Alexander&#039;s (Potential) Return Couldn&#039;t Come At A Better Time - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander&#039;s (Potential) Return Couldn&#039;t Come At A Better Time - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Green Bay Packers are apparently heating up at the right time, playing their two best games of the season back to back, but they&#039;ll need to keep\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-03T22:39:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander's (Potential) Return Couldn't Come At A Better Time - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-03T22:39:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-03T22:39:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander&#8217;s (Potential) Return Couldn&#8217;t Come At A Better Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander's (Potential) Return Couldn't Come At A Better Time - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander's (Potential) Return Couldn't Come At A Better Time - Breaking News","og_description":"The Green Bay Packers are apparently heating up at the right time, playing their two best games of the season back to back, but they'll need to keep","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2024-12-03T22:39:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303","name":"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander's (Potential) Return Couldn't Come At A Better Time - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png","datePublished":"2024-12-03T22:39:21+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T22:39:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/green-bay-bau-6.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5303#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Jaire Alexander&#8217;s (Potential) Return Couldn&#8217;t Come At A Better Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5305,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5303\/revisions\/5305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}