Eagles Corner Hoping To Find His Pro Bowl Game Now That He's Home Again

PHILADELPHIA – Take a left out of the NovaCare Complex, travel about seven miles on Broad Street and you will come to Jefferson Hospital, where Jaire Alexander was born. The recently-acquired Eagles cornerback moved to the Charlotte area when he was a toddler, but his Philly roots remained deeply planted.

“I used to come visit every summer up until high school when football started,” said Alexander in his first interview with his new team after arriving on Monday when general manager Howie Roseman got him from the Ravens.

“They (his family) were so excited,” he added. “When they heard the conversations that I was coming here, my mom couldn’t stop smiling. It’s always good to see them happy. They just want to see me playing and back to myself.”

It’s been a while since Alexander has played like himself, since 2022 to be precise when he made his second Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro for a second time in three years with the Packers.

Alexander is what is called a flier, or in the words of Roseman, “We felt the risk is worth the reward.”

Jaire Alexander Has No Doubt He Can Return To Form

It was a disaster for him in 2023. He missed three games with a back injury, six others with a shoulder injury, and was suspended for a game due to conduct detrimental to the team.

In 2024, he missed games with groin and quad injuries then suffered a torn PCL on Oct. 27. He tried to come back too soon then had surgery last December.

When he went to the Ravens, he was still rehabbing and missed OTAs. Things didn’t work out after that, and now he’s in Philly.

“That’d be nice,” he said if he feels he has something to prove to himself and others that he can be the same player, at 28 as he was three years ago, “but I’m more into proving myself that I can be where I know I can be, where I am. …I don’t have no doubts, uh uh.”

Alexander said he feels better than he ever has from a health standpoint, but his fall from grace, so to speak, is something that has given him perspective.

“I think I’ve noticed that no matter how high you are, sometimes you can be humbled,” he said. “It’s about the younger guys that’s coming up because obviously they’re the future, so however I can affect them in a positive way. I think that’s important because they’re next up. I’m also still next up. I’m still young. I’m just excited for the opportunity.”

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