Gerald Alexanders offseason diary

Safety Gerald Alexander is entering his second season -- and first official offseason -- in Detroit. He was selected by the Lions in the second round (61st overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft, stepping into a starting role after the injury to fellow-safety Daniel Bullocks in the preseason. Alexander was solid on the field -- finishing with 84 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries -- while establishing himself as solid and prepared off the field. Now, Alexander embarks on his first offseason conditioning program following his first NFL season.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008
“Going to Boise last weekend was cool. I’m not used to the pollen in the air around the springtime, so I was sneezing as soon as I got off the plane. I stopped and saw old coaches, friends and was in my coaches’ offices saying hi and then a couple minutes later I’m on the board teaching them our stuff because they were asking me questions.

“I went for the Track and Field Conference Championships and my girlfriend got second in the 100 hurdles and qualified for the regional. Everybody asks me if she could beat me in a foot race. She swears she can get me, but it’s not happening. As far as her beating me in the hurdles, I told her to give me two weeks. Give me two weeks and then I’m good. But I don’t have time to get out there getting hurt and she doesn’t need to be getting hurt, either. We’ll see.

“It was good to get back out there for mini-camp – I’m very excited to have everybody on board. Just out there playing football and things that we love to do. This is our job so we’ve got to get better. Even though it’s not padded, I can make sure I know my assignments and understand the defense a little more. As far as a safety, I am working through being able to dissect plays as they’re going to get a good break on the ball, especially if I’m deep. Basically just knowing what I’m supposed to do and executing.

“The coaches are introducing new stuff and working on the same things we’ve been working on. We are going through different things that we’ve always run – our base stuff – then we have certain things we’ve never done as a defense and as a staff that we’re working on, tweaking, seeing exactly how we want to play it. Hopefully with the repetition in this camp, OTAs and training camp we’ll be ready for the season.

“This seems totally different (than last year’s mini-camp) from a mental aspect because last year – and I can see it in the rookies’ faces – they’re nervous. I’m the one who’s like, ‘relax. It’s still football.’ But, for me, I’m out there doing what I’ve been doing for the past year and a half. It’s very relaxing for me other than last year when I was like, ‘oh my gosh, that’s Roy Williams. That’s Jon Kitna.’

“I know how a lot of these dudes felt last year. A lot of the guys who have been here five, six, seven years, I guess they don’t remember that or even think about it. But I remember what these guys felt like (because I went through it) last year, so if there’s a new person I try to introduce myself and try to make them feel as comfortable as possible being able to talk to them and them being able to talk to me about whatever’s on their minds.

“I was so wired into not messing up and trying not to be in awe of all these people that I’ve seen on TV that I don’t even remember if I did anything embarrassing or not. I wasn’t star-struck, because I’m not that kind of person, but it was more that I was so amazed by how skilled these guys are, how precise their route-running is; how accurate their throws are and how fast the game is. That’s where I got my shock from. But now it’s just me out there doing what I do and trying to get better each day.”