From Griddy to Greatness as Alexander Shuts Down Jefferson

Jaire Alexander wanted Justin Jefferson. He got him. By winning that key matchup, the Packers kept their playoff hopes alive by routing the Vikings.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jan 2, 2023 10:24 AM EST

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jaire Alexander talked the talk. On Sunday, he didn’t just walk the walk. He danced the dance.

In helping limit record-setting receiver Justin Jefferson to just one catch on Sunday, Alexander played a key role in the Green Bay Packers routing the Minnesota Vikings 41-17 at Lambeau Field.

“It feels spectacular. It feels phenomenal,” he said. “It feels supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Alexander wanted this matchup for months. When the teams met in Week 1, Jefferson caught nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Most of the damage was done with Alexander guarding other Vikings receivers. On Sunday, wherever Jefferson lined up, Alexander followed.

“Anytime you’ve got the best on the best, who wouldn’t want to wake up to that? I thought about that all week. I’ve been ready,” Alexander said.

Every bit of it was vintage Alexander.

Alexander talked trash to Jefferson.

“I don’t think he wanted to talk to me.”

He mocked him by stealing Jefferson’s “Griddy” dance after breaking up a pass in the first quarter.

“I didn’t practice it, but I knew when I got out there, I was going to do it. How did it look?”

He got physical with him.

“I thought Ja just challenged him,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “There were a couple times he implemented some quick jams where he was very physical at the line of scrimmage. Anytime DBs do that, you’re not always expecting it, especially if you haven’t seen it a ton on tape, and that’s always a challenge. I don’t care who you are as a wide receiver, it’s always a challenge.”

He even blocked him after Adrian Amos’ interception.

By the end of the night, Jefferson was a picture of frustration. Jefferson caught just 1-of-5 targets for 15 yards. At one point, after he slipped and fell on Adrian Amos’ interception, Jefferson yanked his helmet off his head and accidentally hit one of the officials; only Jefferson’s quick reflexes prevented a potentially dangerous situation.

“I got to the point where I solidified myself enough that if I don’t have (a productive) game, it’s not because I’m not getting open,” Jefferson said. “It’s mostly because they’re doubling me or have a lot of help. It’s frustrating to deal with, but I just got to keep playing and keep being myself.”

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins threw his first pass to Jefferson late in the first quarter. Alexander broke it up at the sideline, then did Jefferson’s touchdown dance.

“A lot of times you see him doing the Griddy,” Alexander said. “It was my turn. I wonder what they thought?”

They thought it should have been a penalty.

“I thought it was taunting, first of all,” Jefferson said. “I thought that (warranted) a taunting call. But it is what it is. He does stuff like that to try to get in my head. Even from his comments leading into this game, it’s just talk. It’s just trying to give himself that boost or that confidence to go out there and guard me.”

Jefferson, who had 10 games of 100-plus yards in his first 15 games as part of a record-setting first three seasons of his career, was targeted four times in the first half and didn’t catch any. T.J. Slaton deflected the third and fourth of those passes, the last of which resulted in Amos’ interception.

According to Next Gen Stats, Alexander lined up across from Jefferson on 15 of his 23 routes during the first half. Jefferson was targeted twice and had zero catches. Jefferson’s lone catch came in the third quarter, with the game well in hand.

Jefferson had never been held to one catch in his career. The 20.0 catch rate also was the worst mark of his career. Jefferson entered the game with such substantial leads in receptions and yards that he still leads the NFL in those categories.

“I will always look at it from a standpoint of, did we enough opps? And on the opps we tried to get for him, what were the results and why did the outcome not become what we wanted it to be for him?” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said.

“As it has been many times, this is not the first time we saw coverage like this. This is not the first time he’s essentially been doubled for most of the football game, if not all the game, and he’s been productive. There were some plays out there and we just didn’t make them, and probably a lot of things that we will be able to look at the tape and improve on to make sure when we get this, as we have multiple times this year, we will have the ability to make some plays and come to life as an offense.”

Alexander made waves this week when he called Jefferson’s monster performance in Week 1 a “fluke.” It wasn’t a dig at Jefferson, whom Alexander called one of the top two or three receivers in the NFL, as much as it was his own belief that he could be the difference-maker in the rematch.

“I think an interception would’ve topped it off but somebody knocked it down,” Alexander said. “I can’t be too mad at them, but nah, this is perfect. This is everything. Everything’s ascending. Yeah, ascending.”