Packers-Lions Inactives: Aaron Jones, Christian Watson Return; Three Starters Out

GREEN BAY, Wis. – While running back Aaron Jones and receiver Christian Watson are active, cornerback Jaire Alexander is among the Green Bay Packers’ inactives for Thursday night’s NFC North showdown against the Detroit Lions.

Starting right tackle Zach Tom is active, as well, following the knee injury sustained on the game-winning drive vs. the Saints. Tom is not at full strength, but his availability will be crucial with two starting linemen out of action.

Alexander, one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, will miss a second consecutive game with a back injury that had him questionable on the injury report.

When he was out last week, rookie Carrington Valentine made his first NFL start. While Valentine suffered a biceps injury during the second quarter and missed the second half, he is active.

The Packers elevated their two practice-squad cornerbacks, Corey Ballentine and Kiondre Thomas, earlier in the day. They’ll join starters Rasul Douglas and Keisean Nixon and Valentine to form a five-man group.

Ballentine played the second half against the Saints and could make his first start since the 2020 season. Thomas hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2021.

The highly anticipated return of Jones and the debut of Watson could provide a huge lift to an offense that ranks eighth in scoring but has battled early-season inconsistency.

Given the troubles on the offensive line – left tackle David Bakhtiari was placed on injured reserve on Thursday, left guard Elgton Jenkins is out again and Tom is not close to 100 percent – the ability for Jones to keep the offense in manageable down-and-distance situations through his explosives and pass-catching ability will be critical.

“That would be huge” to get Jones back, quarterback Jordan Love said this week. “That would be very good for our offense. He's a huge playmaker. You saw Week 1, just getting him the ball ends up in a good play most of the time, so it's going to be huge just for everybody, just help out. He's going to be a big playmaker for us and probably just make the offense be a little more explosive when he's out there.”

Watson will make his season debut after missing the last month with a hamstring injury. Love has seven touchdowns and only one interception in three games, but Watson’s field-stretching ability should provide some easier completions for Love, who is next-to-last in the NFL in completion percentage.

“Last year, I missed out on a lot when I was out – the training camp reps and whatnot – so I feel like I was behind the 8-ball mentally and physically,” Watson said this week. “This year, I feel like the mental side is there at this point between last season, the offseason. I’ve just got to make sure I’m there physically and I’m good to go.”

Jenkins (knee), linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (ankle) and safety Zayne Anderson (hamstring) were ruled out on Friday. They are joined on the inactives list by three rookies: receiver Malik Heath, safety Anthony Johnson and outside linebacker Brenton Cox.

For the Lions, safety Kerby Joseph – who had three interceptions against Aaron Rodgers last year – cornerback Emmanuel Moseley and right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai are inactive. Left tackler Taylor Decker and running back David Montgomery are active and will be in the lineup.

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About 2 hours until kickoff for a huge #Packers-#Lions game. It's early in the season, obviously, but first place in the NFC North is at stake.

Here are three reasons why the Packers will win: https://t.co/fhPajzzwfW

And three reasons why they'll lose: https://t.co/6kCy2XD6vK
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 28, 2023

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