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hat’s worse? That Jaire Alexander appointed himself a captain or the Packers’ belated punishment could cost them a spot in the playoffs?
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.
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.”
