Jaire

Alexander

Alexander heads to his third team in a calendar year as the Eagles continue hoarding talent, with the team sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Ravens for Alexander and a seventh. Howie Roseman is no stranger to taking a cheap gamble on underperforming talent, which appears to be the case yet again with the recent addition. Alexander could compete with backup corner Kelee Ringo immedaitely considering the absence of Adoree’ Jackson.

Alexander has been active for two games thus far, allowing a 100.0 percent catch rate on five targets thrown into his primary coverage. Although his performance thus far has disappointed, he can still contribute in a pinch. With the defense’s health generally improving, they can keep him bubble-wrapped for future times of need. The Ravens excitingly return QB Lamar Jackson (hamstring) this evening, following a multi-week absence.

Alexander continues to deal with a knee injury that plagued him for part of training camp. The veteran corner appeared on 33 defensive snaps for the Ravens last week against the Bills but will be held out of Sunday’s contest against the Browns despite logging a full practice on Thursday and Friday. In addition to Alexander, the Ravens have declared RB Keaton Mitchell, FB Patrick Ricard, OT Carson Vinson, TE Isaiah Likely, and LB David Ojabo inactive for Week 2.

As ESPN’s Jamison Hensley notes, it’s likely a limited session for Alexander. It’s his first time practicing since the beginning of August, so the Ravens are understandably taking it easy to start the week. Alexander likely needs to get upgraded to a full practice before the end of the week to suit up on Sunday, but this is a step in the right direction. The former Packer will start opposite Marlon Humphrey in a crucial matchup versus Buffalo if he’s ready to go for the first Sunday Night Football action of the season.

We’re in midseason form. Alexander has not practice since August 9th per The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. There’s still plenty of time for him to get cleared this week, but nobody should be surprised if Alexander misses Week 1 after this long of a layoff.

Harbaugh then added that he believes in the tooth fairy. (OK, not really.) Alexander has already had the knee drained this offseason and the maintenance of said knee probably leaves the Ravens in a scenario where he’ll be questionable on a weekly basis. When Alexander plays he should give the Ravens a third great corner, but they’ll have to manage him carefully.

Andrews reportedly missed practice on Sunday as well. On Monday, he was seen working with a trainer off to the side, running routes and at times sprinting half the field’s length. The Ravens tend to share injury details minimally, so info may be difficult to come by. There is no reason to think he will miss Week 1 at this time. He’s a TE1 until further notice. Isaiah Likely (foot), Jaire Alexander (knee) and Chidobe Awuzie (undisclosed) also sat out team drills. Awuzie was seen working alongside Andrews, off to the side.

Alexander had his knee drained after experiencing some swelling on Monday. Alexander’s chronic knee conditions are the reason the Packers happily cut ties with him earlier this offseason and figure to limit his availability. That said, there’s no reason to believe he’s in danger of missing games just yet. This’ll just be something the Ravens are monitoring for most of the season with the newly-signed corner.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Alexander can make another $2 million via incentives. Green Bay explored trade options for the disgruntled corner this offseason and also made an offer to keep him in town on a restructured deal, but nothing came of their efforts. They eventually chose to release Alexander after no other resolution was found. As they tend to do, the Ravens quickly swooped in to sign the former shutdown corner. Alexander has still been effective when on the field in recent seasons, but his health has been a constant issue and was reportedly a source of frustration for the Packers organization. He has appeared in more than seven games just once in the past four seasons. Baltimore’s pass defense was a disaster over the first half of the 2024 season before turning the corner over the final two months. Bolstering the secondary with Alexander should help prevent a potential backslide in 2025.

With Alexander now set to be released by the Packers, the Bills could become a team to watch as Alexander begins looking for a new home. The 28-year-old vet has had back-to-back injury-riddled seasons that limited him to just 14 regular season games since 2023, but Alexander could still provide serviceable play if healthy. It’s worth noting that Buffalo did use the No. 30 overall pick on cornerback Maxwell Hairston in April, which could create too crowded a room for Alexander, who will be looking for a starting gig wherever he lands.