Jaire Alexander has opened up on the ‘internal battles’ he has been going through five months after stepping away from the NFL to focus on his mental health.
The former Pro Bowl cornerback, 29, was only traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in November, having briefly spent time with the Baltimore Ravens following his Green Bay Packers release last summer.
Yet just a week after joining the team, Alexander told Philadelphia he was taking some time out from football to prioritize his mental and physical wellbeing.
The Athletic reported at the time that he was set to weigh up the possibility of retirement, seven years after being selected with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Five months on from his Eagles exit, Alexander has recalled the difficulty of his short time in Baltimore, where he made just two appearances while struggling with his mental health, and dropped a major hint that he has chosen to call it a career.
‘As much as I loved Baltimore, I didn’t love the position I was in,’ he wrote in an emotional post on Instagram. ‘I had a bunch of internal battles with myself, I didn’t have that confidence in my abilities I once did.
NFL star Jaire Alexander has opened up on the ‘internal battles’ he has been going through
‘At corner you need ultimate confidence in your abilities and I felt it slipping away.’
Alexander underwent major knee surgery while with the Packers and struggled upon his return as a Raven, making just two appearances before being traded at the deadline in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round draft pick.
After feeling his confidence dip, he admits he contemplated whether staying in Baltimore was the right decision for his career, before some ‘really cool teammates’ and visiting family members helped him get through it.
However, Alexander then suggested he has opted to retire.
‘I never questioned God but why me,’ he continued. ‘All this while having a smile on my face. football is a true gladiator sport, and once the confidence has gone it’s time to hang it up.
‘Thank you Flock nation for embracing me. Thank you EDC for believing in me & Thank you for the unlimited therapy sessions I had to encounter to help me with my time there. I am so grateful for the experience.’
Alexander played the first seven seasons of his NFL career with Green Bay before they released him in June of last year.
Alexander hinted that his NFL career is over in an emotional statement on social media
The former Louisville college star was a 2018 first-round pick for the Packers, who gave him a four-year, $82million contract extension in 2022.
The extension was a deserved reward for Alexander after he became an integral member of Green Bay’s defense and earned Pro Bowl selections in 2020 and 2022.
After being released over the summer, he signed a one-year deal with the Ravens before being traded to the Eagles within five months.
Now it seems his NFL career has come to an abrupt end after 80 appearances, 292 tackles and 12 interceptions across seven-and-a-half seasons.
