Cory's Corner: Alexander Is Epitome Of Energy

The buzzword around camp so far has been energy.

There are lots of young guys running around with bucketfuls of energy this year. 

Now I want you to think back to 2018. How many times did you remember Mike McCarthy saying the word energy in camp?

Packers coach Matt LaFleur, and the front office for that matter, has really stressed a high-energy ball club.

The perfect example of that high energy is cornerback Jaire Alexander. “I love everything about Jaire,” said LaFleur. “I love the way he competes. He brings so much energy on a daily basis and the future is bright for him.”

Lions cornerback Darius Slay is currently the best corner in the NFC North, but in one or two years, that title will be Alexander’s. And the only reason is because he goes 100 mph on every play. He is the person that defensive coordinator Mike Pettine should be modeling young defensive players to be — hard working, gritty and high energy. 

LaFleur has had staccato-like practices that don’t have much down time. He likes to squeeze as much production from each practice as possible. And the reason is energy. He wants his players to keep playing at a high level all game long, not to fall into short lulls that cause turnovers, points and perhaps even a deficit. 

Obviously Aaron Rodgers is the offensive leader, but defensively, it’s Alexander because he never kills his engine. You can tell that he truly loves to play the game. He isn’t worried about any of the ancillary stuff. He just wants to do his job as best he can. 

That’s not bad for a guy entering his second season. But last year showed that he could be a defensive cornerstone for this team for a long time. 

And this training camp is proving it simply because he is bringing more energy than anyone else. It’s something that is infectious and it is something that will guide others.

Yet, you won’t find energy in any football metric or statistic. Alexander has that “it” quality and that is what will lead this defense to heights that haven’t been seen in quite some time. 

 

 

 

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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn

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4 points
 

Comments (28)

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Rak43's picture

August 03, 2019 at 06:24 am

Z' Smith seems to be another guy who brings a lot of intensity and energy to the field.

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Coldworld's picture

August 03, 2019 at 09:06 am

Tony Brown too from all I hear

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NickPerry's picture

August 04, 2019 at 06:16 am

I'm telling ya something you probably already know but Tony Brown is going to be the next UDFA "Find" for the Packers. Ever since his bone-headed plays in back to back games last season he's been getting better and better.

This is really a guy to keep an eye on.

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Hematite's picture

August 03, 2019 at 07:04 am

Alexander looked very good in coverage during the Family Night practice last night.
Davante Adams made a couple of catches against him that very few receivers would have caught.
IMHO Alexander looks like a stud already just starting his second year.

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Guam's picture

August 03, 2019 at 07:57 am

I was surprised at how good Trevor Davis looked at WR during the Family Night practice. I had largely written him off as a ST performer only and may have to eat my words if he keeps playing like that.

There are four weeks of camp yet to go, but J'Mon Moore needs to start stepping it up or he is going to be the odd man out in the WR race. I think Adams, MVS and ESB are locks and Allison, Kumerow, and Davis are making a pretty good case for the 53 at this point. Even the rookie Shepard seems to be outplaying Moore right now. Moore has great tools but he needs to start demonstrating them if he wants to make the team.

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dblbogey's picture

August 03, 2019 at 08:22 am

Allison is a lock.

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hobowilly's picture

August 03, 2019 at 12:30 pm

hah, isn't that sorta obvious. I'd add i think Kumerow is a lock as is muscle man and that 4th back cuts the # of WR to 6 IMHO. There will be at least 2 WR's stuffed onto the PS as well as possibly a couple OL.

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holmesmd's picture

August 03, 2019 at 04:37 pm

Who is muscle man? SMH

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Coldworld's picture

August 04, 2019 at 06:58 am

Vitale

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LambeauPlain's picture

August 03, 2019 at 08:26 am

Good observation by Cory.

A mentor once told me employees "respect" what you "inspect" as a manager/boss.

ML is teaching the need for high energy as a team value and characteristic and he is using Alexander to model it it for his D teammates. He even expressed his disappointment for a lack of energy after Wednesday's practice. In other words, if you don't practice and play with energy for him, you probably won't play much...or even make the team.

Z, Clark, Martinez are also carrying the "high energy" message with their behavior.

Who are the high energy guys on the O? Adams? Kumerow? Linsley? AJ? Vitale?

I recall a football team we played in HS. They played, even warmed up before the game with incredible energy, almost comical. But it was intimidating and an intangible that was very valuable for them. We had a good football team and as talented as they were...but they pounded us on the field and on the scoreboard....our worst loss of the year by far.

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Handsback's picture

August 03, 2019 at 08:45 am

I had the exact game experience playing against a smaller high energy HS team. Got our clocks clean! Coaches were so upset he huddled the team on the bus at halftime and it was moving side to side by his rants, screams, and animated antics. It didn't help.
The point is you arrive on game day with energy or face defeat if you don't.

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WestCoastPackerBacker's picture

August 03, 2019 at 11:58 am

Not sure you need the same kind of intensity on the offensive side of the ball. Or maybe it's not that visible. But they need consistency and they certainly have youth on that side of the ball as well. Davante is the only guy with more than a couple years experience of the WRs and RBs. And though Graham and Lewis are older TEs, Tonyan is pushing to get snaps and there's Sternberger behind him. The offensive line doesn't need energy, they need consistency and backup and that seems to be developing.

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Turophile's picture

August 03, 2019 at 08:31 am

So many players seem to be doing good stuff that it might be more revealing to be talking about players who are not doing well (or at least are invisible).

I haven't heard much at all about guys doing badly. I know preseason is the time for high expectation, this year more than any I can remember, but how in the world do the Packers get down to 53 this year ?

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LambeauPlain's picture

August 03, 2019 at 09:09 am

You won't hear much from ML or his coaches publicly about poor performers. I think his tendency is to praise publicly and reprimand very privately...a practice I agree with.

Reading reports, it seems Sternberger is having a hard time as Tonyan gets more praise and snaps. Dexter Williams was observed struggling a bit in the plant and go zone run scheme...dancing too much after the handoff.

Long way to go, however. Next Thursday will be another good gauge of where they are.

I do like the emphasis on energy ML is instilling in the team. "High energy" is not something I would use to describe MM's teams. He personally was not very high energy. ML, Pettine, Coach Smith, Montgomery, Hackett, Gutsey etc....all high energy coaches.

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WestCoastPackerBacker's picture

August 03, 2019 at 12:07 pm

To be fair, McCarthy has certainly coached high energy teams during his time in GB. They went no-huddle around 49% of snaps in 2014. The offense was potent; the defense was impressive and if not for the crazy collapse they would have had a very good change to beat the Pats for a second Title with Rodgers under center. You can blame McCarthy for the collapse, but it's not b/c they didn't have energy. Then 2015 was the year without Jordy and the year all the WRs got hurt. The offense bounced back for a good year in 2016, and they made it to ATL, where it became clear GB really lacked in speed and overall talent on the roster. Then the last 2 years Rodgers was hurt and either on IR or playing on one leg. Even though MM didn't seem high energy, many of his teams had great energy.

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hobowilly's picture

August 03, 2019 at 12:38 pm

hah! "High energy" is not something I would use to describe MM's teams. He personally was not very high energy. ML, Pettine, Coach Smith, Montgomery, Hackett, Gutsey etc....all high energy coaches. McCarthy sure had his highest energy when he was ordering extra cheese /meat on his footlongs when he was racing through his playsheet. This new staff is exactly what America's team needed--new energy and a new (creative) offensive scheme and better game mgmt. I say better game mgmt, even before the first (real) snap this year because IMHO game mgmt was one of MM's weaknesses. It's almost like the past performances of the last several years of the ST's...nowhere else to go but up!

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Adorabelle's picture

August 03, 2019 at 11:08 am

It seems for negative it just means you haven't heard anything about that guy. We hear Za'Darius Smith is winning one on ones and in the backfield on competitive drills a lot, but you hear noting about Preston Smith. You hear a lot about Tonyan doing things but Sternberger and Lewis are invisible.

The one I wonder about is someone like Natrell Jamerson. While Savage and Jones have been out he was practicing with the ones at safety. If he can be a special teams guy who can also play corner and safety backup does he have a chance to make the team.

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Coldworld's picture

August 03, 2019 at 12:33 pm

Jamerson is getting increasing exposure. I think it would be fair to say that he is under consideration but yet to definitively grab a roster spot. So far at safety, only Amos, Savage and Greene look set.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

August 04, 2019 at 01:10 am

That is tough.
Bad: CB Rouse, K Ficken,
Not so good: Kizer, Boyle, OT De Beer, TE Baylis, TE McKeever.

Otherwise, total silence or closed to it, and mixed reviews (Kizer and Boyle could go here, but expectations were higher for them, and neither looks like a guy GB would want starting for them).

It is early. Things will sharpen up and come into more focus with the scrimmages against Houston and the preseason games.

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Coldworld's picture

August 04, 2019 at 07:23 am

Second string offensive line could be added to the bad column. In fairness, just looked completely unable to work togetherness effectively as a group and no individual redeeming performance.

Ficken: 9 from 12 is 75%. However he made 3 over 50, which offsets a bit (one from 64). Seems like he has a technical adjustment relating to tendency to push right. Willing to see if that can be corrected.

Rouse got burned but was in early against the ones, which was interesting. Perhaps he will bounce?

McKeever is a blocker, did he get a chance to show? Baylis and de Beer haven’t shown anything in camp and didn’t here either.

I am still a little leery of the receiver stats. The CB coverage was often very good but rather less intense than in game conditions. King had a face mask on MVS, and Hollman got away with blatant PI on Moore (I think on sullivan’s Interception). I suspect some of the other completions might not have been in a game, however.

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Packer_Fan's picture

August 03, 2019 at 09:38 am

Energy was a term not used by MM. And I think it showed. I hope this is a harbinger of good news for the regular season.

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Jonathan Spader's picture

August 03, 2019 at 10:49 am

I'm a big believer in regularity. My father taught me that. Get up early, get your work done, and that's, what, your highest level of energy before lunch.

Mike McCarthy

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MarkinMadison's picture

August 03, 2019 at 11:07 am

Was it just me or did Kumerow push off on his big catch? I though I saw just the end of it as the camera cut over.

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Coldworld's picture

August 04, 2019 at 07:25 am

I have seen that suggested elsewhere on that play and a couple of other receptions on the night. I couldn’t give a definitive answer and haven’t seen one. The college refs definitely seemed reluctant to call. Hollman pretty clearly interfered with Moore on the deflected pass that Sullivan intercepted, for example.

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

August 03, 2019 at 11:16 am

Now compare that play to HaHas high, I mean lowlights.

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KnockTheSnotOutOfYou's picture

August 03, 2019 at 02:20 pm

Not only is Jaire high energy he likes having fun. Last night Jaire gave up big reception and when Rodgers was walking away about 40 yards downfield with his back to Jaire and ball under his arm Jaire came running up behind to try popping the ball out of Rodgers arm. I'm guessing Rodgers saw him on the jumbotron and last second switched ball to left arm so Jaire would not get it. Was funny!

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TheBigCheeze's picture

August 03, 2019 at 02:50 pm

anytime the Pack knocks the snot outta the vikings....it's a good thing....

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KnockTheSnotOutOfYou's picture

August 03, 2019 at 10:41 pm

Agreed! :)

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