Adams vs. Alexander gives MNF a premier one-on-one matchup

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Oct. 6, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Jaire Alexander allotted some time to catch up with former teammate Davante Adams in February when he was in town to compete in the Pro Bowl Games.

The 26-year-old Green Bay Packers cornerback let the 30-year-old Las Vegas Raiders receiver know their upcoming game against each other this season was already circled before it even had an official date. Alexander says Adams assured him the same was true on his end, as the receiver joked he was “taking the week off before” he played the Packers to ensure he was at his best according to the cornerback.

“I told him I was going to take a week off too,” Alexander joked in a locker room interview with reporters in Green Bay on Thursday.

Alexander was the only one who followed through, though presumably not on purpose as the cornerback did indeed miss the Packers’ 34-20 loss to the Lions in Week 4 with a hamstring injury. Adams served as the Raiders’ leading wide receiver for the third straight week in a 24-17 loss to the Chargers, though he did suffer a shoulder injury that lingered to hold him out of practice Thursday.

Neither Adams nor Alexander therefore figure to be 100% healthy for their long-awaited showdown at 5:20 p.m. Monday night when the Raiders host the Packers to cap the NFL’s Week 5 but they’ll both surely be on the field. 

Adams’ first career game against the franchise where he became a superstar over the initial eight years in the NFL will be the prevailing narrative of the contest. But his matchup against Alexander might ultimately decide the outcome.

“It will definitely be different than any head-to-head for lack of better words that I’ve had in the past,” Adams said Wednesday. “But it will be just like the other ones in the sense that you’re not going to be lined up against each other every play. He’s not going to be following me around probably every single play. That’s just by their defensive scheme. They move around a lot and different things like that. It’s really not how the game is played too much these days.”

Adams’ scouting report of his former team checks out, as the Packers ranked sixth in the league last year by using “cornerback on sides” — meaning they weren’t assigned to a specific player — on 87% of snaps last year according to the FTN Football Almanac.

But he might want to check with Alexander before getting too sure they’ll only have a limited number of head-to-heads against each other. The cornerback wouldn’t go into detail on the Packers’ defensive strategy against Adams but described it as “a good plan” and campaigned for the right to shadow Adams.

“I would love that,” Alexander said. “I would gladly take that on…I guess we’ll have to see Monday night.”

On the surface, such a matchup would make a lot of sense considering it would be way for the Packers to pair their most accomplished defensive player against the Raiders’ most accomplished offensive player.

In the 2020-2021 season, the penultimate year Adams and Alexander played together, there’s a strong argument that they were both the best players in the league at their respective positions to help the Packers earn the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.

Adams ranked as the NFL’s top receiver by Pro Football Focus’ grading metrics. Alexander rated as the second-best cornerback.

To Adams, Alexander’s breakout campaign was a culmination of all the hard work the cornerback put in over the first two years of his career after being selected as a first-round draft pick out of Louisville. Much of the hard work Adams had helped him with as the two almost always lined up against each other in practice and then even compared notes afterwards.

Adams has often told a story of their first practice rep against each other when Alexander was a rookie in 2018 that Adams ultimately won. Alexander rushed back into the locker room after practice, dissected film of the play and asked Adams what he did wrong.

“That’s when I knew he was going to be a special player,” Adams said. “It’s not that I had nothing to do with (Alexander’s rise), but I didn’t create the monster. He definitely turned into one. It’s always good to see players, especially a highly-touted player like that’s drafted in the first round realize his potential and live up to it. It’s fun to see and it’s definitely going to be fun to play against.”

Alexander spoke appreciatively of Adams’ guidance early in his career.

“He was always real helpful in that way, telling me what he liked that I did or what I could get better at, which is why I respect him,” Alexander said. “Lining up against me, come on, that’s not easy, so for him to come and give me pointers, I respect that.”

Adams seems to be having fun and downplaying the impending showdown, while Alexander is approaching it in the opposite manner. When a reporter suggested Adams would inevitably have “a catch or two” on Monday, Alexander took offense.

“He’s going to get a catch or two on who?” Alexander asked before stating his goal was to hold Adams without a single reception.

Perhaps Adams would expect nothing less out of Alexander. In addition to continually praising the cornerback’s ascent to the top of the NFL at his position over the last year and a half, Adams also complimented Alexander’s mentality on Thursday.

“He’s one of the most locked-in players as far as from the jump that I’ve gotten to play with,” Adams said.

Alexander is one of the few players who remain on the Packers that Adams played alongside. Rosters turn over rapidly in the NFL, but Adams said Green Bay’s new-look nature doesn’t negate some of the emotions he’s feeling going into the matchup.

He admits to at least some sentimentality this week, but says it will cease “once the clock starts ticking.”

“There’s still connection,” Adams said. “It’s not about the players. I’m not bonding with the guys over there. It’s more about the organization and the uniforms, seeing that. I don’t know how many more times in my career, and it definitely hasn’t happened to this point, where I’ll be able to line up across from someone in green and gold. That will take some adjustment to get used to that, but for the most part, it’s just another game.”

That’s how Adams sees it, but not Alexander. Covering Adams for the first time in a game instead of practice is worthy of the primetime billing that Monday Night Football will provide.

“I wouldn’t say it’s like the Super Bowl or the playoffs but it’s kind of like that,” Alexander said. “It is what it is. I can’t miss this matchup with the best.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or