Aaron Jones, Jaire Alexander And Tale of Two Injuries
GREEN BAY, Wis. – At one end of the locker room, Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander said it’s difficult for him to play through a shoulder injury.
At the other end of the locker room, running back Aaron Jones said he is hoping he can play through a knee injury on Monday night against the New York Giants.
The Packers are 6-6 and have won three in a row despite relatively meager contributions from two of their top performers and highest-paid players.
Jones missed three games with a hamstring injury and the last two games with a knee injury sustained against the Chargers in Week 11. Alexander missed three games with a back injury and the last four games with the shoulder injury, sustained against the Rams in Week 9.
Alexander was limited participation for the final two practices before the Chargers game, would have been limited for all three of the hypothetical practices before facing the Lions on Thanksgiving and was limited for all three practices before Sunday night’s game against the Chiefs.
Alexander didn’t play in any of those games, so that he has been limited participation for the first two practices of this week might not foreshadow his return against the Giants.
Alexander said his absence is purely related to the shoulder. While he’s played through pain before, he said this particular injury has been more difficult. He said range of motion, pain and overall “functionability” have kept him sidelined.
“There’s always pressure. There’s always pressure,” he said of his status as the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. “But I’m the type of person that I always want to put my best foot forward.
“So, I feel like if I can’t put my best foot forward, then it’s just tough to even be out there.”
Nobody other than Alexander knows the pain that he’s dealing with and how it impacts his ability to play aggressively at the line of scrimmage, to stretch out for a pass or to make a tackle. So, it’s dangerous to compare Alexander’s wait-and-see approach with Jones’ gung-ho desire to get back on the field.
Still, why is it so important for Jones to get back on the field rather than taking a more cautious approach and maybe sitting out one more week?
“To be out there with my guys,” he said. “This is my job. I’ve put so much time into this. It wouldn’t be taking a week off. I never take a week off. Even when I’m not able to be out there, I’m preparing as if I’m out there – going through the week, going through the walk-through, putting myself in that position – so it’s never a week off. Just trying to rehabilitate to get back out there. So, hopefully I’m able to be out there this week.”
As was the case with Alexander, Jones was limited participation for the first two practices of the week. He said he’s “feeling better” and that he’s “close” to feeling ready to go.
“I would say just being able to put that foot in the ground and then get up to full speed,” he said. “The only thing you don’t know is when you’re taking a hit, you don’t know until that happens. But I feel like it’s more when you’re running around, you have your full range of motion, you’re able to cut, put your foot in the ground the way you want to.”
Jones said he has only done individual and group drills this week. After cutting back on the intensity on Friday, he’s hoping to take part in 11-on-11 work on Saturday as the last big test.
“As long as everything’s fine, I’m stable and I can go out there and take a hit and I’m able to get up to a decent amount of speed, I can play through pain and things like that,” he said.
After four consecutive seasons of 1,150-plus scrimmage yards, Jones returned to Green Bay on a revamped contract this offseason. After missing a total of four games the previous four seasons, he’s missed five this year.
Even the always-positive Jones has struggled to handle the frustration.
“But I’ve got to remember that tough times don’t last forever,” he said. “It’s about the process and it’s about these guys in the locker room. May not be having the year that I want to have or being able to be out on the field like how I want to be, but it’s still how can I come in here and impact these guys and lead these guys and make sure that they’re ready to play. And then doing my part so that I am able to come back when I am and provide that spark and be a boost to them.”
While Jones spoke with some Dairy Queen Blizzards to share with his running backs, Alexander sauntered over to reporters saying “Let the lies begin” while wearing a couple of boxing-style championship belts.
So, while he said he “1,000 percent” wants to play against the Giants, will he?
“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll see. Week to week.”
