He will miss his sixth consecutive game after the Green Bay Packers downgraded the All-Pro cornerback from questionable to out for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants. Alexander was limited in all three sessions this week, all three practices last week before the Kansas City game, all three unofficial practices before the Thanksgiving game against Detroit, and the last two practices before the Chargers game.
Alexander was questionable for the Chiefs, Lions and Chargers game but a gameday inactive. This is the first time he’s been ruled out since the Pittsburgh game – a week after the injury – in which he was ruled out in advance.
“We’re all frustrated about it, to be honest with you, but it what it is,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Saturday, when he listed Alexander as questionable. Alexander suffered a shoulder injury while deflecting a pass against the Rams in Week 9. “If I’m able to play, then I’m going to play,” he said this week.
Pain, range of motion and “functionability” were barriers in keeping him out of the lineup, he said. “I’m the type of person that I always want to put my best foot forward,” he said. “So, I feel like if I can’t put my best foot forward, then it’s just tough to even be out there.”
With Alexander set to be a gameday inactive again, Corey Ballentine will make his fifth consecutive start. Ballentine had gone more than three years between starts. His position coach in Green Bay, Greg Williams, worked with Ballentine for two weeks on Arizona’s practice squad before the Packers signed him in 2022.
“Corey is going take the information and he’s going to try to apply it on the field,” Williams said. “He’s going to try to execute the way you execute. He’s going to try to play the techniques that you’re asking them to play and any advice you have to help him on any coverage or any technique, he’s going to use it to try to benefit what he’s doing physically on the field.
“To see him put it together and play on Sundays and have a bit of success, to me, it’s not really a shock because I see the work that he puts into it.” Alexander was a second-team All-Pro in 2020 but missed most of 2021 with a shoulder injury. He bounced back to earn second-team All-Pro honors again last year. Including Monday night, this will mark the eighth time in 13 games that Alexander will be on the sideline. Asked on Friday about how the defense has played well with starting defensive backs Alexander, Darnell Savage and Rudy Ford missing significant time with injuries and Rasul Douglas traded to Buffalo, defensive coordinator Joe Barry said: “The NFL, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. You’ve got to find a way, and the guys have.
