Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander revealed Thursday that he suffered a torn PCL in his right knee and expects to be out for at least another week, if not more.
Alexander did not participate in practice Wednesday and Thursday. Though the Packers haven’t officially listed his status for Week 12’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, he won’t be available to play.
The two-time Pro Bowler originally suffered the injury in Week 8’s 30-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Alexander did not play the following week in a 24-14 loss to the Detroit Lions. After a bye week, he tried to play against the Chicago Bears, but could go for only 10 snaps.
“It was a game-time decision at that, so we didn’t know… until, you know, a few minutes before the game if I would play or not,” Alexander said to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.
“I just tried to give it a go… I went out there and s***, all I could really give was 10 plays and then it — I felt something,” he continued. “If you know how [posterior cruciate ligaments] work, it don’t just get done in three weeks, so it just needed more time. I reaggravated it going back out there and only doing 10 plays, so now we just trying to get my knee back right.”
Asked if he could return to All-Pro form this season (he earned such honors in 2020 and 2022), Alexander said he could but needed more than three weeks of non-contact practice to recover. When he will return isn’t certain, but Alexander is confident that this isn’t a season-ending injury for him.
In seven games this season, Alexander has 16 tackles with two interceptions and one fumble recovery. He returned one of those interceptions for a touchdown in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans.
Alexander has missed 27 games during the past four seasons due to injury. A shoulder injury cost him 13 games in 2021, and he missed one game in 2022 with a groin injury. Last season, he was sidelined for three games because of a back injury.
Carrington Valentine is expected to start in Alexander’s place at cornerback.