The New York Giants are set to face their MetLife Stadium brethren, the New York Jets, in their preseason game on Saturday. This would be the second of three preseason games, and just one step closer to having official football that actually counts for something.
With one game and one win under their belt, there was one player who underperformed tremendously in last Saturday's 35-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills. This rookie was slow, seemingly in a fog amongst the chaos of the front line of the defense.
Drafted in the third round of the draft out of Toledo, Darius Alexander did not put on a great showing in his first game with the G-Men. What went wrong, and does he have enough time to fix it?
Darius Alexander has a long road ahead of him
Once the ball was snapped, Alexander seemingly lost all sense of reality. He would "fire" out of his stance on the opposing guard, but not make any forward progress toward the opposing quarterback. This was relevant in nearly all of the 22 snaps he played against Buffalo.
This was a humbling experience for the 25-year-old and one that will likely resonate with him for the rest of the preseason. For Big Blue, one of the more reliable strengths of this team by season’s end will be the consistent pressure and disruption on opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks from the defensive front.
For the first time since the Super Bowl era of 2007 through 2012, when Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, and Justin Tuck anchored the line, this current group is nearly identical in terms of firepower.
With two more chances to impress the Giants brass, Alexander must step it up. The Jets already got to face the wrath of the first-unit defensive line, and it did not go well for them. With that fear and pressure set in, the rookie must take advantage as a part of the second unit, fighting for his spot on this roster.
Related: Dexter Lawrence said what every Giants fan hoped to hear about rising rookie
Starting defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II has taken Alexander under his wing this preseason, and gave him a nice comment on his willingness to learn.
"He's a willing learner. He's humble. I like his attitude,” Lawrence said. “Whatever Coach Dre (defensive line coach Andre Patterson) or I say to him, he corrects it the next day. I love the way he responds to adversity. B-Cox (assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox) is on him hard, but he's got a good head on his shoulders, and you can see him keep growing every day.”
Despite the long road ahead of him to get starting playing time, or even securing a roster spot once the 53-man roster cuts occur in a matter of a week and change, Alexander still has a chance to shine through.
But if he can’t get it together on Saturday night against the rival Jets, then the excuses start to run out — a seasoned 25-year-old rookie should be able to handle preseason action against backups. All eyes are on him to perform at his very best, and it is all on him to either sink or swim.