Packers Activating Alexander, Wrestling with COVID
GREEN BAY, Wis. – A week unlike any other in Matt LaFleur’s three years as coach of the Green Bay Packers started with some good news.
All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander will be activated from injured reserve. However, LaFleur said more players will be added to the team’s bulging COVID-19 lists, and he didn’t expect All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari to practice after his comeback from a torn ACL was shut down again last week.
The Packers’ virus lists were at 12 when they placed tight end Marcedes Lewis and inside linebacker Oren Burks on the COVID list on Tuesday. On Wednesday, LaFleur said it had grown to “somewhere around” 15 players.
The team is trying to conduct business as usual, though. The Wednesday morning game-plan installs were conducted in-person at Lambeau Field, and the team will practice as scheduled, as well.
“We’re pretty fortunate that we have a facility that can accommodate us just in terms of the space of making sure that everybody’s spread out,” LaFleur said. “I think our guys are doing a good job of wearing their masks. We will do more virtual meetings post-practice potentially. We’ve really kind of left it up to the position room in terms of how they’d like to do it but, like I said, we’ve got enough space in this building where we can accommodate in-person meetings.”
The team – and the rest of the league – got some good news earlier this week. The CDC on Monday announced it had trimmed the isolation time in half, from 10 days to five. The NFL and NFLPA on Tuesday agreed to amend its COVID protocols to follow the CDC’s guidance. That means of the 12 players on the COVID list as of Tuesday afternoon, all of them could return to face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Any new cases on Wednesday and beyond could be out for Sunday; vaccinated players can test out in less than five days if they test negative twice in a span of 24 hours, but early test-outs have been incredibly rare this season.
“I think it can positively impact everybody but, especially with our situation right now, this is kind of uncharted waters for us,” LaFleur said. “We haven’t had that many cases before, but it is what it is. We’ll do our best try to keep everybody safe and try to avoid it as best as we can, but I think this is something that is unavoidable, as you guys can see. It’s not only sweeping across our league but you see it in other leagues, you see it just in society.”
For Alexander, officially adding him to the 53-man roster doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to play on Sunday night. The Packers had to add Alexander to the 53 on Wednesday or place him on season-ending injured reserve. But three weeks of work on the practice field has the team ready to push his comeback from the shoulder injury suffered on Oct. 3.
“It’s going to be gradual,” LaFleur said of re-integrating Alexander. “When he’s ready, then he’ll be available, but I think it’s just more or less making sure that everybody feels comfortable with where he’s at and making sure that he’s good for the long haul.”
Right tackle Billy Turner (knee) and center Josh Myers (knee) are not ready to return, LaFleur said.
Packers on COVID Lists
Here was the COVID list before Wednesday’s practice.
Receivers: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Amari Rodgers.
Tight end: Marcedes Lewis.
Offensive line: Ben Braden.
Defensive line: R.J. McIntosh (practice squad).
Inside linebackers: Oren Burks, Ty Summers.
Outside linebackers: Tipa Galeai, Chauncey Rivers (injured reserve), La’Darius Hamilton (practice squad).
Cornerbacks: Kevin King, Shemar Jean-Charles.
