GREEN BAY, Wis. — No one would allow two “Prime Time” nicknames, right? Certainly not the one and only “Prime Time” himself, Deion Sanders.
Don’t tell that to Jaire Alexander.
The Pro Bowl cornerback has given out that nickname in the Green Bay Packers’ locker room before — and he’s done it again — but the ultra-confident Alexander is not talking about himself.
He meant it for Rasul Douglas, who made another game-clinching interception Sunday. The cornerbacks’ pick against the Miami Dolphins with 1:29 left in the game secured a 26-20 road win that kept the Packers (7-8) in the playoff hunt with two games to go.
It was Douglas’ ninth interception since the Packers signed him off the Arizona Cardinals‘ practice squad in October of 2021. Six of those have come in the fourth quarter, including three with less than 2:00 to play.
“Man, he reminded me of Rasul last year,” Alexander said. “I called him ‘Prime Time’ last year because he was always making prime-time plays. He did it again [Sunday]. So he was ‘Prime Time,’ and then we celebrated in the end zone.”
Neither Douglas nor the Packers’ defense has lived up to the preseason hype around a unit that was expected to carry the team while the offense adjusted to life after the departure of star receiver Davante Adams while breaking in a couple of rookie receivers.
At least the defense showed Sunday that it can still close out a game.
That it came after Douglas, Alexander and the rest of the secondary looked out of position or out of whack on long pass plays to Dolphins receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill only furthered the need for the defense to redeem itself.
Secondary coach/passing game coordinator Jerry Gray — one of the possible candidates for a promotion should coach Matt LaFleur decide to move on from embattled defensive coordinator Joe Barry after this season — had seen enough big plays against his guys and wanted the old Douglas & Co. back. He lit into the defensive backs at halftime after Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had burned them multiple times.
Douglas called the normally mild-mannered Gray’s reaction, “shocking.”
“Everybody was like, ‘We really got in trouble. We really got in trouble,’” Douglas said. “Because [Gray] talks, but it’s more like football stuff. He’s always like a calm, chill person. When he’s mad, stuff’s got to change.”
And it did.
First, Alexander picked off a pass that Tagovailoa launched over Hill’s head early in the fourth quarter. Then linebacker De’Vondre Campbell dropped into coverage and snagged an interception. The Packers were only able to turn that into a field goal with 2:02 left, meaning the Dolphins could win it with a touchdown.
Two plays later, Douglas ended it.
“It was a great play by him; he kind of baited him,” Packers safety Adrian Amos said, “It was a great play by him. He baited him into that throw. Just a relief; game over.”
It was reminiscent of Douglas’ first big play with the Packers last season at Arizona, when he sealed a game with an interception in the end zone with 12 seconds left. Or of last year’s Christmas Day home game against the Cleveland Browns when he did the same thing with 50 seconds left.
Those plays convinced Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst to reinvest in Douglas, signing him to a three-year, $21 million contract in the offseason.
Douglas started this season slowly, perhaps because he was playing out of position as the nickel/slot cornerback. He moved back outside after Eric Stokes’ season-ending ankle injury in early November. Three of Douglas’ four interceptions this season have come after the move.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Douglas has more fourth-quarter interceptions than anyone in the NFL with six. Three others have five, while Alexander ranks tied for fifth with four.
Dating back to the 2000 season, Douglas is one of five Packers with six or more fourth-quarter interceptions in their careers. Charles Woodson has 11 followed by Tramon Williams (10), Nick Collins (10), and Sam Shields (eight). Douglas is on that list despite playing less than two seasons with the Packers. He’s also the only non-Pro Bowler on that list.
“I’m really just going on feel,” Douglas said of his game-ending interception at Miami. “I know the plays they like running and I’m going off feel, trying to keep it in front of me and keep him in bounds, more so because they’d used all their timeouts, and just going off feel. If I feel I can go get something, I’m going to try to end it. If not, just play the situation.”
While the emergence of rookie receiver Christian Watson has driven the Packers’ offensive resurgence of late, the defense has finally begun to do its part, too. The Packers have forced eight turnovers in their past three games and have allowed just nine points in the second half of those games — the fewest points allowed and the second-best point differential (45-9) in the NFL after halftime in the month of December.
“We just stepped up, we just started playing better,” Douglas said. “We all looked at each other, like, ‘We’ve got them. We could get them. Come on.’ And we just kept leaning on each other. We all talked to each other and everything. We saw, we communicated it and got it right.”
