Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday 10/7/21
7 October 2021 Sports
Sports for October 7th
The Green Bay Packers continue to consult with specialists on 2020 Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander’s injured shoulder in hopes of avoiding season-ending surgery.
It was a whirlwind of a day for the Packers, winners of three straight headed into Sunday’s game at the Cincinnati Bengals.
The team reportedly had interest, but failed to acquire two-time All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore from the New England Patriots. The Packers lacked the salary cap space to absorb the remainder of Gilmore’s $7 million base salary.
Ultimately, the Carolina Panthers sent a 2023 sixth-round draft choice to New England for the 31-year-old cornerback. Second, to bolster the depth at cornerback, the Packers grabbed Rasul Douglas off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad. A third-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, the 6-foot-2 Douglas has made 29 starts. He had five interceptions for the Eagles during his first two seasons and broke up nine passes while starting a career-high 11 games last year for Carolina.
Also, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport is reporting the Packers are close to finalizing a deal with former Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith. Reportedly the deal will become official later today
Alexander missed practice with the shoulder injury sustained on his fourth down hit of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris on Sunday. LaFleur said Alexander likely would miss the game against Cincinnati. Alexander has 41 passes defensed in his first three seasons. He had two interceptions in last year’s NFC championship game loss to Tampa Bay.
His injury is the latest blow to a team that already was without All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins and Pro Bowl outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith.
One of them is Kevin King, who missed the past two games with a concussion. He returned to practice on Wednesday. Another is Eric Stokes, this year’s first-round pick. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger targeted Stokes early and often on Sunday, but Stokes ended the game with an interception. King and Stokes presumably would be the cornerbacks and Chandon Sullivan would man the slot against the Bengals if Alexander is unavailable.
In Thursday Night Football the Los Angeles Rams (3-1) play at Seattle (2-2).
Brewers manager Craig Counsell faces the obstacle of adapting his postseason bullpen to account for the absence of injured setup man Devin Williams. Counsell had to navigate the Brewers through a season in which they used a franchise-record 61 players due primarily to injuries. They still won the division with relative ease and will play the Atlanta Braves in a best-of-five NL Division Series beginning Friday in Milwaukee.
The Brewers took care of business early. They clinched a playoff berth on Sept. 18 and wrapped up the division title eight days later. They won the division by five games after leading by as many as 14.
Right-hander Corbin Burnes will start game one tomorrow against right-hander Charlie Morton with the first pitch at 3:37 p.m. On Saturday Milwaukee sends Brandon Woodruff against Braves left-hander Max Fried with the first pitch set for 4:07 p.m. You can hear all the action on AM 1100/98.3 FM, WISS.
Chris Taylor hit a walk-off, two-ou,t two run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night to give the Dodgers a 3-1 home victory over the Cardinals in the National League Wild Care game in Los Angeles. The Dodgers advance to the NLDS against the Giants, winners of the National League West. The Cardinals took a 1-0 first inning lead before Justin Turner tied with a fourth-inning homer. Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright went 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run on four hits, while striking out five and walking two. T.J. McFarland pitched the ninth inning and took the loss. The Dodgers Max Scherzer lasted only 4 1/3 innings giving up one run on three hits while striking out four and walking three. Kenley Janson pitched the ninth to pick up the win.
The American League Divisional Series get under way later this afternoon as the White Sox play at Houston against the Astros. Tonight, Boston plays at Tampa Bay.
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