Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander knew he’d face some sort of consequences for making himself a game captain against the Carolina Panthers, but he didn’t expect to be suspended for this past Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
“Yeah, I was surprised by the suspension,” Alexander said Wednesday following his first practice back with the team, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “I thought maybe I’d get fined.”
Demovsky noted that Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said Alexander’s faux pas against the Panthers wasn’t the only thing that led to his one-game suspension.
However, LaFleur didn’t say whether the 26-year-old had been fined previously for any other missteps this season.
Alexander has been limited to six games this year due to back and shoulder injuries.
He denied the notion that the suspension created a rift in the relationship between him and the coaching staff.
“I think if anything, it improved it,” he said.
Alexander, who is the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL at $21 million per year, said he acknowledged there needs to be better communication between him, the coaching staff and Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.
“Yeah, I think it was definitely something to learn from,” Alexander said.
“There’s definitely things that I could have improved upon during that week to help with communication.
Moving forward, that won’t happen again.”
LaFleur didn’t commit to Alexander returning to the starting lineup on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, which is a game Green Bay must win in order to make the playoffs.
“I’m not going to get into too many of the specifics; you guys will find out later in the week.
But I will say that it was great to have him back,” LaFleur said of Alexander.
“We had a great conversation on Monday, and I think he’s ready to go.”
