OWINGS MILLS, Md. — By 6 a.m., Marlon Humphrey decided that cornerback Jaire Alexander would be a “perfect fit” for the Ravens.
Humphrey has helped revive the 6 a.m. “Breakfast Club” lifting group — a concept that dates to safety Eric Weddle — and basically as soon as Alexander joined the Ravens, he was eager to be part of the club. The rules are rigid: Show up at 6:01, and you are booted from the room.
“We’re trying to create an environment where everything matters,” Humphrey said. “6:01 a.m., does it really matter? No. But does it? Yes. So, it’s kind of just another thing we’re trying to do. Everything matters. Accountability is going to be the key to the season.”
Alexander, who was signed by the Ravens at the end of June minicamp, jumped right in to the Breakfast Club — even if Humphrey wasn’t quite ready at that hour for Alexander’s request to have the music blasting.
Still, it signaled to Humphrey that Alexander, a two-time Pro Bowl pick with the Green Bay Packers whose tenure there ended somewhat acrimoniously, could be an important addition to a Ravens defense that — in Humphrey’s estimation, had lost a bit of its swagger.
“When I first got here,” said Humphrey, a 2017 first-round pick, “I felt like teams feared what we did. Now, we are trying to get that back. … I don’t think the Bengals fear our defense. I don’t think the Steelers fear our defense.”
With Alexander, Humphrey sees the kind of “swag” that can change that.
“What I like the most is just his swag to the game,” Humphrey said as he met with the media after the team’s training camp practice July 24. “I think confidence is the biggest key you can have at cornerback, and I think you can never have too much confidence. … So I think he’s a perfect fit for our secondary.”
Alexander was selected at No. 18 overall in the 2018 draft — 10 spots behind Roquan Smith and 14 ahead of Lamar Jackson — and made the Pro Bowl twice with Green Bay before injuries derailed his career there.
He recorded 10 interceptions and 58 passes defensed in his first five seasons, including a career-best five interceptions in 2022. Earlier that year, Alexander had signed a four-year, $84 million extension with the Packers. He made the Pro Bowl in 2020 and 2022.
But the Packers and Alexander couldn’t agree on a reworked contract this spring after several injury-marred seasons, and he was released earlier this summer after the Packers unsuccessfully sought to trade him.
The Ravens signed him to a one-year, $4 million deal — with an additional $2 million in potential incentives — a day after Jackson, his college teammate, publicly pleaded with general manager Eric DeCosta to do precisely that. (Coach John Harbaugh said negotiations had been “in the works for a little bit.”)
Alexander said he had other potential suitors after cutting ties with the Packers, but the ability to join a Super Bowl contender, the ability to reunite with Jackson, and the “vibes” in Baltimore, made it an easy call.
“Vibes never lie,” he said. “I am big on energy and energy exchange, so I got good vibes here, and it seemed like they wanted me here, and they cared. So, that played the biggest part in it.”
Alexander made his mark on the first day of training camp. He floated across the middle to break up a pass for Keith Kirkwood, he broke up a long pass down the right sideline intended for Dayton Wade, and he battled DeAndre Hopkins for a pass along the sideline. Hopkins made the tough catch but came down out of bounds.
“[Jackson] tried to throw a back shoulder on me with ‘D-Hop,’ so I had to give him a little jazz about that,” Alexander said. “I said, ‘Come on, man. I know it’s my first day, but it’s still me, you know what I mean? It’s still me.'”
Asked what he adds to a Ravens defensive roster considered one of the most potent in the league, Alexander said, “I’m going to bring that energy and that juice, so everything else will fall into place.”
NOTEBOOK
HOPKINS SITS AFTER TWEAKING KNEE: Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins didn’t practice on July 24, and Harbaugh said he held the receiver out for “an abundance of caution” after Hopkins landed funny on his knee on a pass play a day earlier.
The only other players who missed practice were the same three who had missed the July 23 workout: safety Ar’Darius Washington (Achilles), offensive lineman Emery Jones (shoulder) and inside linebacker Jake Hummel (hand). Hummel has been added to the Non-Football-Injury list, and Harbaugh said he expected Hummel to be back “in a week or so” as he deals with a cut on his hand.
HOYLAND PERFECT: Undrafted John Hoyland got all the reps at kicker and went 9-for-9, with a long of 43 yards. Hoyland was wearing a GoPro-type camera on his helmet during practice, and Harbaugh said it gives coaches a good look at the kicker’s view and also a good look at the angle of the plant leg. Harbaugh said sixth-round draft pick Tyler Loop would kick on Friday.
It seems the team is determined to build the kickers’ confidence early in camp. Neither Loop nor Hoyland has tried a kick longer than 43 yards in the first two days. During a drill in which the Ravens simulated rushing the kick team onto the field in a closing-seconds situation, the preceding play set up a kick of about 52 yards, but the staff moved the ball up about 10 yards and Hoyland hit from 42.
ANOTHER INTERCEPTION FOR LOWERY: Undrafted rookie defensive back Reuben Lowery has a long path to the roster in a secondary that now features five former first-round draft picks. But the Tennessee-Chattanooga product has been around the ball a lot since OTAs. In the July 24 workout, he crashed down from his safety position and picked off a pass from Devin Leary intended for Anthony Miller. As an undrafted rookie, there’s not much more Lowery can do other than get noticed for the right reasons, and at the very least, he’s done that.
Photo Credit: Bo Smolka/PressBox