Packers CB Jaire Alexander's knee injury is expected to sideline him for rest of the season

Sport

Packers CB Jaire Alexander's knee injury is expected to sideline him for rest of the season

2025-01-02 08:06 Last Updated At：08:11

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.'"

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Justin Rose steals the Masters show and builds 3-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler

2025-04-11 07:47 Last Updated At：07:52

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose managed to steal the attention away from Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the Masters by matching his personal best at Augusta National with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot lead Thursday in the first major of the year.

Scheffler did his part in his bid to win a third Masters green jacket in four years, playing a bogey-free round of 68.

McIlroy, so desperate to win this major and complete the career Grand Slam, was right there with him until the end. He took a pair of double bogeys late in the afternoon with careless mistakes and had to settle for a 72. It was the seventh straight time he failed to break 70 in the opening round of the Masters.

Rose burst out of the gates with three straight birdies. He added three more around the turn. He was headed for a round nearly 10 shots better than the field average until a poor tee shot into the trees led to his only bogey at the final hole.

No matter. This was a reminder to Rose that his good golf is still very good.

“I'm 44. Golf is not going to get easier for me in the next five, 10 years, whatever it's going to be,” Rose said. “So your opportunity is less going forward. So you have to make the most of it.”

Rose set one Masters record: The fifth time he has had at least a share of the 18-hole lead, breaking the mark held by Jack Nicklaus. The glaring difference, of course, is Nicklaus has six of those green jackets.

It also was the eighth time Rose has had at least a share of the lead after any round at Augusta National, something only five others have done. All are Masters champions.

“I feel like I've played well enough to win this tournament,” said Rose, whose best chance was a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. “I just feel like I don't have the jacket to prove it. ... But you've got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don't shy away from it.”

Scheffler was 3 under at the turn, including one birdie on the par-5 eighth in which his ball was deep in a divot hole short of the green. He managed to get that out some 20 feet left of the pin and used the slope to bring it back to 15 feet and made the putt.

He was rarely under stress.

“I struggled for what felt like two pars today,” Scheffler said “But other than that, the golf course was in front of me most of the day, kept the ball in play, did a lot of really good things out there.”

Corey Conners of Canada birdied his last two holes for a 68, and they were joined Ludvig Aberg, the super Swede who was runner-up to Scheffler in his Masters debut a year ago.

U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton carried the LIV Golf flag, both at 69. DeChambeau had seven birdies in his up-and-down day, a show of his scoring power.

“Making some bogeys for me probably frees me up a little bit and says, you know what? Just go out and play some golf,” DeChambeau said.

The roars came early, along with a few shockers.

Fred Couples, who wondered a month ago if at 65 with a creaky back he would still be welcomed to play, became only the second player that age to break par. Couples holed out from the fairway on the 14th with a 6-iron hybrid on his way to a 71. Tom Watson was also 65 — by 28 days he is still the oldest — when he shot 71 in 2015.

The horror show belonged to Nick Dunlap, a 21-year-old who last year won on the PGA Tour as an amateur. This must have felt like amateur hour when he made double bogey on the final hole for a 90. It was the highest score since Ben Crenshaw shot 91 in 2015 at ag 63.

Hideki Matsuyama might have caught the worst break when his approach into the par-5 13th hit the pin and caromed into the tributary of Rae's Creek. The wildest day belonged to Nicolai Hojgaard — one eagle, five birdies, four pars, five bogeys and three double bogeys. Do the math and that comes out to 76.

“It's mentally draining playing a round like this,” Hojgaard said.

And then there was McIlroy, chipping into the water from behind the 15th green for double bogey, and then going long on the 17th and compounding that mistake with a three-putt for another double bogey.

Far more blissful on a warm spring day was Rose, who at one point had it going so well that he felt like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter.

He pitched to 6 feet for birdie on the par-5 eighth. He hit wedge to the ninth and used the slope to set up a 5-foot birdie, giving him a career-low 31 on the front nine. That was followed by a 12-foot birdie putt.

“That's when the day felt a bit different. That’s when I felt I was doing something potentially more on the special side,” Rose said.

And then he really began to pull away from the field with a smart pitch away from the water to set up a 10-foot birdie on the 15th, followed by a 20-foot birdie on the par-3 16th. The pins on the final two holes allowed for birdies and Rose was thinking super special. He got par-bogey instead that didn't ruin his mood.

The average score was 73.6. Only six players broke 70, and 20 others broke par.

“Overall, great day," Rose said.. “I played a lot of golf here at Augusta National. So to come away with my equal best score is certainly an achievement for me.”

Still three days away is an achievement that so far has eluded him.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf