Packers Injury Report: Jaire Alexander, Rudy Ford miss Wednesday practice

In total, seven Packers were either limited or non-participants in practice today, all of whom are preferred starters.

The Green Bay Packers had a shorter practice than usual on Wednesday, one which head coach Matt LaFleur described as a “mental” practice. Focusing on details might not be a bad choice for the team, as they’ve lost five of their last six games. According to LaFleur, the team will not have a padded practice this week. As a reminder, NFL teams are limited to 14 padded practices during the regular season.

To open the week, cornerback Jaire Alexander (shoulder) and safety Rudy Ford (biceps) were non-participants in practice. Previously, Ford had dealt with a calf injury, and the starting safety was able to finish out the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend — playing all 65 of the team’s defensive snaps.

On the topic of Alexander’s shoulder injury, which led to him being inactive in Pittsburgh, LaFleur stated, “I think he’s getting better, but he’s still not ready.” Without Alexander — or Eric Stokes, who is on the injured reserve — the team’s starting cornerbacks against the Steelers were Carrington Valentine and Corey Ballentine.

Help could be coming in the secondary soon, though, as Stokes and Darnell Savage went on the injured reserve in Week 8. They need to sit out four weeks of action before they’re allowed to return from the IR to the active roster, but the duo could return to the field as early as next week.

The limited participants in practice today were running back Aaron Jones (hamstring), receiver Christian Watson (shoulder), left guard Elgton Jenkins (knee), defensive lineman Kenny Clark (shoulder) and inside linebacker Quay Walker (groin). All but Walker, who missed last week’s game, was able to finish out Sunday’s action against the Steelers.

The most interesting development here seems to be with Watson, who two weekends ago left the game against the Los Angeles Rams with a back and chest injury. Last week, Watson was given a back injury diagnosis on the injury report, suggesting that this shoulder injury that is limiting him is a new one.