Leadership comes in many forms in the NFL. Some players are loud, and their enthusiasm is infectious. Other players lead by example and are respected because they do the right things to prepare for games and then shine once the game starts. Right now, Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander is taking on multiple leadership roles for the defense and the team.

Alexander made headlines earlier this week for backing up new starting quarterback Jordan Love. Adam Schefter tweeted out a quote that Alexander called Love “the best quarterback in the league.”

Whether the Packers Pro Bowl corner truly believes that or not, it is clear Alexander is showing the media that the team is confident in their new starting quarterback and that they have his back.

With all the pressure on Love this season as he takes over for Aaron Rodgers, statements like Alexander’s can only help the young signal caller feel more confident about his role and his teammates.  

During mandatory minicamp, Alexander was also taking a leading role. He made it a point to work with the team’s younger receivers and to challenge them. No doubt the inexperienced receivers faced a bigger challenge in practice going against Alexander than they did going up against unproven players like Carrington Valentine and Shemar-Jean Charles.

“These are the guys are on team that we’re going to be rocking with,” Alexander told reporters. “It’s good to challenge them.”

The Packers don’t have a wide receiver with more than one year of NFL experience on their current 90-man roster. Alexander is trying to do all he can to show these players the ropes and to help make them the best they can be. Players like Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Bo Melton will all benefit from facing a talented, fast, and experienced corner like Alexander in practice every day. As they say, iron strengthens iron.

“When I first got here, that’s the first thing I told Christian and Romeo was keep doing what you’re doing, because we’re going to need you, at the end of the day,” Alexander said. “No one has egos here. There’s no ego with me, because at this point, I want to see the best for the team.”

He’s also seeing progress from the young receivers, particularly those in their second season with the team. “Doubs caught a touchdown on me today, and I gave him a hug almost,” Alexander said. “I was like, ‘Good stuff,’ because the year before he didn’t catch anything on me.”

Alexander is not exactly known as a quiet type on or off the football field. But another way he helps the Packers is by being confident. Alexander isn’t afraid to speak his mind and to let people know how much he believes in himself and in his team.

By speaking out, his attitude becomes contagious, and he helps inspire his teammates to raise their games as well.

Of course, it helps that Alexander backs up his talk with his performance on the football field. He earned Pro Bowl honors for the second time in his career in 2022. He set a new career high with five interceptions which matched his total from the first four seasons of his NFL career.

He also held opposing quarterbacks to a quarterback rating of 63.7 when throwing to receivers primarily covered by Alexander according to pro-football-reference.com. That was the best rating of Alexander’s career as well.

The former Louisville star is in the prime of his career now at the age of 26. That also makes him a veteran leader on this young Packers team. The fact that Alexander is embracing that role and is acting as a vocal leader while also leading by example can only help the team mature as they head into the challenging and uncertain 2023 season.