Gerald Alexander – October 13, 2020
Download PDF version
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander
(CB Xavien Howard, he gets a lot of interceptions. Now if you haven’t played football or coached football, you might not understand some of the things that allow him to do that. Can you kind of break down some of the things that he does and that he has, that enable him to get so many interceptions?) – “Well, the first thing, to get as elementary as I can put it, is he does his job. He’s aligned in the right places. He does what’s necessary for the play call. The communication to him allows him to understand what his responsibility is – whether it be man or zone – and then especially when we’re in zone defense, which was the call when he got his interception the other day, a lot of it really came from the defensive line and their ability to affect the quarterback and force a high throw. That’s why rush and coverage really go together. But more specifically for ‘X’ (Xavien Howard), he’s a guy that has good ball skills when the ball is in the air. There’s a lot of guys, a lot of corners – I mean I could look at my playing career. There were so many layups that I dropped that were right in my hands. A guy like him, who has the ball skills to really defend in the zone defense and catch those balls, or even in man-to-man and defending a 9-route, and going up there and catching the ball at its highest point. He does a really good job of just attacking the football once he’s in phase.”
(A follow up on CB Xavien Howard, do you see him physically get better by the week? And do you think he’s back in a place now where he was in the past, where the knee, the COVID and all of that is completely behind him?) – “I’ll reference this in terms of – you’re talking about specifically health, correct? I’ll reference this kind of in one of my favorite video games, which is Street Fighter. So I have four kids, three boys. So in Street Fighter, if any of you guys have played Street Fighter before, you pick a character and then when they say ‘Ready, fight!’ they have a health meter like on the top of the screen. So you can see how much health your fighter has until he’s no longer useable and you have to go to the next round. Unfortunately with ‘X,’ I don’t see his health meter. I do think he’s improving on a day-to-day (basis) and he has the ability to go out there on Sundays and make plays for us.”
(This isn’t a second-guess because CB Nik Needham obviously played well on Sunday and is highly skilled. I’m just curious what’s the thinking from you, Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and Head Coach Brian Flores in not trying CB Noah Igbinoghene at slot in the nickel. I know Auburn Defensive Backs Coach Wesley McGriff has said he got some work there at Auburn and is capable of doing it. Why, at this point, are you working him only at boundary?) – “Well, this isn’t Auburn. I’m pretty sure he did that at Auburn but just for us and for Noah, and how we’ve trained him so far – nickel is a totally different position than the perimeter corner. The nickel is not just plugging in a corner and saying that he’s the nickel. There’s a lot of things that the nickel does, whether it be in the man defense or the zone defense, or being able to fit in the run game, possibly coming in on pressures. I’m sure he’s capable of doing so, but one thing you have to be careful with a guy like Noah or even any young player for the most part, is putting too much on their plate too soon, which gets them to hesitate and gets them to play slower. Again, Noah is a developing player for us. He’s done a good job with the reps he’s had so far. But right now, he’s really more of a perimeter guy for us who will obviously be in roles between Byron (Jones) and ‘X’ (Xavien Howard), as of right now, in our defense. And that’s all situational and game plan because that can change throughout the season.”
(I’m more of a Mortal Kombat guy myself, but I can appreciate the reference for sure. I wanted to ask you about S Eric Rowe. You were a coaching intern here last summer so you were around him a little bit and now you’ve seen him grow and develop into this safety that’s locking down tight ends and playing really well on Sundays. What have you seen from him from that first training camp you were here with last year to this year and the growth he’s made?) – “Just the feel of the position. I think safety is such a different position than corner. One, obviously a communication standpoint, which he’s gotten a hell of a lot better. Eric naturally is a quiet guy and when he’s on the field, he has to be very verbal and be loud and be confident to give the communication to everybody. So you get some feel of he’s starting to get better in that role as a communicator and also in the run game where he’s got to have recognition of crack splits if he’s a down safety and being able to fit in on the run game and seeing pulling guards. When you’re coming from the corner position, you don’t necessarily – you’re not exposed to that. So it’s just different nuances within the safety position where different keys and different movement and things like that; he’s now continuing to expose himself on a week-to-week (basis) through practice. He’s gotten a hell of a lot better since I was a little intern here just trying to get information.”
(I appreciate the Street Fighter reference, so I wanted to follow up on that. One, do you or your sons have a favorite character and does CB Xavien Howard remind you of any of those guys on there or Chun-Li? Any of those characters?) – “I’m more of a Ken/Ryu guy, depending on if I just want to wear the red suit or the blue suit. I never really got into the other characters because I wanted to master those. So still to this day, if I need to kind of put a whooping on my 7-year-old son, that’s going to be my selection. As far as ‘X’ (Xavien Howard), he hasn’t thrown any fire balls or anything like that, so he doesn’t really remind me of those guys. So I’m not sure in regards if I can reference him to any Street Fighter guy. I just want him to be a street fighter that wins.”
(You’ve got to pass that Street Fighter reference with the health bar up to Head Coach Brian Flores. He would love that talking about injuries, not being able to see a guy’s health bar.) – “I’m just trying to be a little small example for anybody in the building. (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask – you spoke about this earlier on how much the coverage helps the pass rush. When a guy like CB Xavien Howard and CB Byron Jones – when you have those two out there – what does that do for kind of everybody else on the defense including linebackers as well?) – “I would reverse what you just said. I think the rush helps the coverage more so, because if those guys are coming after those guys and attacking those linemen and really putting pressure on the quarterback, not only can they get the quarterback on the ground, but that can really affect the throws and really create ill-decision. And again, it marries. If obviously we’re doing a good job in coverage, that’s why you see coverage sacks because the quarterback is trying to hold onto the ball and guys are doing a good job whether it be in man or in zone. But if you have guys like Byron (Jones) and guys like ‘X’ (Xavien Howard), who are experienced corners in the league and those guys are playing tight coverage and then all the guys around them, whether it be ‘backers on their man or in their zone, and we’re doing a good job on the back end, that gives time for the rush. Maybe that initial work on the guard didn’t work or maybe that pick stunt needed a little bit more time or maybe they’re just beating that guy off the one move and those guys aren’t able to get into the progression in the route concept quickly or in enough time for the quarterback to be on the ground. So it all works together. We all know how important each phase and each defense – I always say that everybody’s one of an 11-piece puzzle that’s a beautiful picture, and everybody’s just got to do their one-eleventh.”
