GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jaire Alexander’s shoulder injury was incredibly painful. So was how his comeback ended.
Injured on Oct. 3 against Pittsburgh, the Green Bay Packers’ premier cornerback returned to action for the playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 22. The last of his eight snaps that frosty night stung the most.
On a critical third-and-7 late in the game, Alexander lined up in the left slot. Rashan Gary shot up field to rush the quarterback. Instead, Jimmy Garoppolo handed the ball to Deebo Samuel. The only man standing between Samuel and the first-down marker was Alexander.
“If it’s September, I make that tackle,” Alexander said on Wednesday. “For sure. But I had no intention of going into that game and tackling. I had every intention of covering a wide receiver and locking them up.”
Alexander’s first seven snaps were in coverage. Indeed, he locked up his man. The eighth snap, coming with 1:03 remaining and the 49ers just outside of field-goal range, was the surprise running play. Samuel ran through Za’Darius Smith’s arm tackle and plowed through Alexander for a gain of 9 and a first down. That set up Robbie Gould’s game-winning field goal.
“In my mind, I wasn’t going to tackle anybody,” Alexander said. “And if you watch my coverage, I didn’t need to tackle that night. But I just went into that game not ever expecting to tackle, you know? The thought was to go in on passing downs to avoid stuff like that. And then it just so happened the run came my way and you saw the play. I wasn’t ready to tackle him.”
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