Ravens see familiar injury pop up with this All-Pro defender

The Baltimore Ravens are quickly realizing why the Green Bay Packers wanted Jaire Alexander to take a pay cut this offseason.

The two-time Pro Bowl cornerback is one of the best players on the field when he's healthy, but he has only played in 34 games since 2021. 

Alexander has missed practices sporadically in training camp and was not a practice on Monday. Harbaugh confirmed Alexander missed due to the same knee issue that required surgery in 2024.

“The DB room right now is dealing with nothing serious in terms of season issues or even for the opener,” Harbaugh said, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “He had something, just kind of take care of that knee. 

"You do some things to kind of help it from a health standpoint. It’s something he’s been dealing with for a few years now. It’s not anything we didn’t expect, probably. Might have been something to help. You’ve got to take a couple days after you do that before you can practice.”

The Ravens are hopeful Alexander will return in time for their Week 1 contest against the Buffalo Bills. 

In June, Alexander signed a one-year deal with Baltimore worth up to $6M and turned down more money so that he could play with his former teammate at Louisville, Lamar Jackson. The Packers saved $17M by cutting Alexander, believing that kind of money shouldn't be spent on a player who has missed so much playing time due to injury.

The Ravens understood when they signed Alexander that the 28-year-old would have familiar injuries pop up from time to time. They just have to hope that he can play enough games to justify the $4M that he's guaranteed in 2025.