Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander missed practice on Thursday for the second consecutive day with a back injury. His status for Sunday’s matchup on the road against the 5-3 Pittsburgh Steelers is getting murkier at the hour.
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Alexander has been dealing with back issues throughout the course of this season. He already had to miss a couple of games this season due to injury and Sunday could very well once again be no exception for him.
If Jaire Alexander does not play this weekend, Carrington Valentine or Corey Ballentine will take his place at the cornerback position. In the game last week against the Los Angeles Rams, Alexander had seven total tackles. He has 22 total tackles and four pass deflections so far this season. He was also on the injury report last week before the Rams game as well.
With Rasul Douglas no longer on the team, Kesean Nixon has been starting at the other cornerback position spot on Green Bay’s roster. If Valentine is the starting cornerback in place of Alexander this weekend, he had two total tackles last week against the Los Angeles Rams.
Carrington Valentine Will Be Looking to Get Better if Jaire Alexander is Ruled Out This Weekend for the Green Bay Packers
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Valentine has received more time for the Packers over the last three weeks. He is making strides for this franchise at the cornerback position as a rookie from the University of Kentucky. Carrington Valentine had eight career tackles a couple of weeks ago when they faced the Denver Broncos on the road. He has played well for the Packers every since training camp opened up in the summertime.
Alexander playing this weekend against a team that has George Pickens at the wide receiver position would be huge. However, it appears as if he can very well miss Friday’s practice as well, and if that is the case, Alexander would most likely be sidelined on Sunday afternoon and this would be a huge blow to the Packers’ defense. They are trying to pull off the upset and improve to 4-5 on the season.