GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers apparently will have to make their entire postseason run without two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that Alexander is undergoing surgery to repair the knee injury that has kept the 2018 first-round pick from playing for most of the past two months.
“Most likely, he’s going to be done for the rest of the year,” LaFleur said.
The knee injury first sidelined Alexander for a 24-14 loss to the Detroit Lions on Nov. 3. After the Packers had a week off, Alexander returned for a game at Chicago but played just 10 defensive snaps before the injury sidelined him for the rest of that 20-19 victory.
Alexander hasn’t played since, as he’s missed six straight games. Now he probably won’t be back at all this season.
“It’s the situation,” LaFleur said. “It stinks that we’re here, but we’re here.”
Alexander’s absence creates a major hurdle for the Packers in their bid to make a Super Bowl run as a wild card. The Packers (11-5) are slotted as the NFC’s No. 7 seed, which would force them to open the postseason at Philadelphia (13-3) and stay on the road for their entire playoff run.
The Packers still could earn the No. 6 seed if they beat the Bears (4-12) at home on Sunday while the Washington Commanders lose at Dallas.
Green Bay ranks 17th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game. Its vulnerability in that regard was apparent Sunday as the Packers allowed Sam Darnold to throw for a career-high 377 yards in a 27-25 loss at Minnesota.
The Packers remain confident they can make a deep playoff run with the defensive backs they have available.
“I have full trust in the guys in our room,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I’ve been saying for a long time. We have a lot of talented guys, a lot of guys who are smart and can adjust on the fly. I feel good about our group. Obviously, we have guys who are being called upon each week. I feel really good about this group and what we have.”
Alexander’s injury has resulted in more playing time for 2023 seventh-round draft pick Carrington Valentine and 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes. Valentine played every defensive snap against the Vikings and had his second interception in his past three games.
“It’s really next-man up mentality,” Valentine said. “We’re always going to go out there and compete and just put our best foot forward.”
Alexander, 27, has been one of the league’s top cover corners when available for much of his career, but he has played just 34 regular-season games over the past four seasons.
He played just four games in 2021, before a shoulder injury knocked him out for the rest of that season. Alexander missed just one game the following season, but he played just seven games in 2023 and has appeared in seven more this season.
He missed three games with a back issue, six more with a shoulder injury and served a one-game suspension last season. This season, a groin injury sidelined him for two games before his knee problem arose.
’’I know how badly he wants to be out there,” Stokes said. “The moment I found out, I was just like, ‘Dang.’ I sent him a text. ‘I know how you feel. I know what type of player you is. I know you really want to be out there for us,’ and all that stuff. He said, ‘Anything y’all need help with, just hit me. I’m going to be there.'"
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FILE - Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander on defense against the Arizona Cardinals during an NFL football game, Oct. 13, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 10 people including a child early Saturday in southern Gaza, hospital staff said, while a new effort at ceasefire talks was said to be underway in Qatar.
A small boy cried over his father, and a woman draped herself over one of the bodies wrapped in white plastic. The three airstrikes hit a car, a house and people on the street in the city of Khan Younis, according to staff at Nasser Hospital.
There was no immediate comment from Israel's military.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 59 people had been killed and more than 270 injured by strikes in the past 24 hours.
There were no immediate statements on the indirect negotiations in Qatar’s capital, Doha, toward a ceasefire after nearly 15 months of war. The Hamas militant group on Friday said talks had resumed and added that it was committed to reaching an agreement. It warned against misinformation, which it said can undermine public confidence.
The talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to press on in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Fighters with Hamas, which wants Israeli forces out of Gaza completely, continue to regroup in areas where Israeli forces withdraw.
The war is by far the deadliest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas. It began when Hamas and other militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.
Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly for months to press Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring loved ones home.
In a video released by Hamas on Saturday ahead of the latest weekly rally, Israeli soldier and hostage Liri Elbag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held 450 days.
“Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness,” she said. She also said a fellow captive had been injured by the fighting in Gaza, adding, “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.” She did not name the person injured.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,717 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says uncounted bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders cannot reach.
Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. A small number of children have died from exposure to the cold.
Meanwhile, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, relatives mourned an 18-year-old Palestinian who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed Friday during clashes with Israel’s army in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. The ministry said nine other people were injured.
Palestinian health officials have said Israeli raids throughout the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, have killed more than 800 Palestinians. Israel says most of these are militants, but youths throwing stones and people not involved in confrontations have also been killed.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for over a month, although its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon 60-day deadline. Israel and Hezbollah had exchanged fire almost daily since the war in Gaza began.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Relatives mourn during the funeral of Palestinian Muhammad Abu Amer, 18, who was killed at night in an Israeli army raid, in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Nablus, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Relatives mourn over the body of Palestinian Muhammad Abu Amer, 18, who was killed at night during an Israeli army raid at his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Nablus, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Muhammad Abu Amer, 18, who was killed at night in an Israeli army raid during his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Nablus, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians carry white sacks containing the bodies of those killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians attend funeral prayers for two of the ten people killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Mourners carry the body of a Palestinian killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes, during his funeral in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect a car targeted in an overnight Israeli airstrike that killed its occupants in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives of a Palestinian killed in overnight Israeli strikes, mourn over his body outside the morgue of Nasser hospital in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
