Packers’ Belated Suspension of Jaire Alexander Paints Troubling Picture
GREEN BAY Wis. – Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur attempted to slather some lipstick on the pig that is the Jaire Alexander suspension.
“We’re looking forward to get him back,” LaFleur said. “We had a long conversation this morning. I thought it was very productive and, I think in the long run, although it’s painful now, I think we’re all going to be better for this moving forward.”
But how?
Football is supposed to be the ultimate team sport. “It takes all 11” is a phrase uttered repeatedly by LaFleur, and for good reason. It requires all 11 players on the field, working as one, to make a play work. Receivers would rather catch passes than block. Defensive linemen would rather sack the quarterback than occupy blockers to set up a teammate.
But selfless football is winning football.
What Alexander did at Carolina, when he appointed himself captain and could have lost the game on the opening coin toss if not for the benevolence of referee Alex Kemp, was the height of selfishness.
Alexander wasn’t just being selfish. He was being disrespectful to LaFleur and to a franchise that once upon a time thought enough of him to make him a season-long captain and make him the highest-paid cornerback in the history of the NFL.
How do you come back from that? If Alexander thinks so little of LaFleur that he’s going to use him as a doormat to wipe his shoes on the way to midfield for a ceremonial flipping of a coin, how can you rely on him to be that star player, leader and franchise cornerstone ever again?
“I absolutely am confident that the relationship between me and Jaire, 100 percent, will be better for this,” LaFleur said. “I really believe it. We had a great conversation this morning and I’m looking forward to having back a part of this football team and being a big part of it moving forward.”
The easy solution would be to make an addition-by-subtraction trade of Alexander before next year’s draft. However, the finances make that unpalatable, with Alexander’s cap number of $24.364 million – already the fourth-highest at the position for 2024 – set to increase by $3.092 million if no longer on the team, according to OverTheCap.com. Moreover, the Packers are trying to build a championship-contending team and two-time All-Pro cornerbacks don’t grow on trees.
“I think Ja’s going to be here a long time,” LaFleur said.
If that is the case, a lot of work must get done to fix a relationship that Alexander drove into a ditch.
It’s important to note that the suspension wasn’t handed down only because of the coin-toss incident. As LaFleur said, without talking in specifics, “It’s never for one thing.”
Of course, the finger should be pointed directly between the “2” and the “3” on Alexander’s jersey. But LaFleur and the franchise must be blamed for letting things fester to such an extent that they found it necessary to bench their best cornerback for a must-win matchup against Justin Jefferson.
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water.
But LaFleur had no choice – though the smart decision would have been to bench his faux captain right on the spot against Carolina, both for the sheer principle of punishing Alexander but also the realization that the Panthers had the worst record in the NFL and statistically the worst passing attack in the NFL while the Vikings are a top competitor for a playoff spot and boast the indomitable Jefferson.
But LaFleur let it fester, just like the “it’s never for one thing” line shows the entire relationship with Alexander had been festering.
It’s perhaps foolish to take Alexander at his word for anything but, after the game against Carolina, Alexander said two things that stood out.
First: “The guys backed me up.”
If that’s true, then “the guys” saw Alexander going rogue and sided with the player over the coach. Thus, the disrespect runs deep, and that’s a major problem going forward for a team trying to go from decent to good to great.
Second, nobody said anything to Alexander at the time. “No. Why would they?”
Gee, I wonder.
Imagine a leader in any walk of life ignoring an act of blatant disobedience. I get it, it’s a lot easier for me to say that from my stress-free desk than it is for LaFleur on a filled-with-stress Sunday sideline. But tough times require tough decisions from tough men.
Added together, Alexander’s selfishness and LaFleur’s lack of leadership have left the Packers without one of their best players for the most important game of the season and against one of the best players in the NFL.
It’s a lose-lose-lose that could cost the team the season.
At least credit LaFleur for finally saying enough’s enough. If it was easy for LaFleur to overlook what Alexander did in the moment, it might have been even easier to do it again in what’s essentially a playoff-elimination game.
Remember, this season has never really been about this season. It’s been about next season and the season after that as the Packers try to build a durable and lasting contending team. LaFleur and the organization are betting everything that Alexander will be a positive member of those teams.
Even if it kills the chances for this team.
“I think there’s a lot of lessons along the way from everybody involved, and hopefully we learn from them. I think we will,” LaFleur said. “I think there will be probably better communication moving forward. Like I said, I think Ja’s going to be here a long time. He’s a hell of a player, and just looking to move past this and learn from it and we’ll all move forward and be better for it.”
