Philadelphia Eagles’ Jaire Alexander Is Stepping Away From NFL at 28 to Focus on Physical, Mental Health

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Jaire Alexander is stepping away from football to focus on “getting himself right” physically and mentally as he contemplates his future, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported on Tuesday, November 11.

Alexander, 28, did not travel with the team for its last game against the Green Bay Packers, a 10-7 win, on Monday, November 10. The Eagles have placed him on the reserved/retired list ahead of their next game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, November 16.

Philadelphia acquired Alexander in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens before the NFL trade deadline on November 1. He was recovering from offseason knee surgery and appeared in only two games for Baltimore.

“I think when you talk about [him] still [being] a young guy, knowing where his health is at now, feeling healthy, feeling good, we felt like the risk was worth the reward with him,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said after the trade, per ESPN.

Alexander expressed similar optimism after the trade, noting how excited his family was that he would be playing for his hometown team.

“They were so excited when they heard conversations that I was coming here,” he told the media. “My mom couldn’t stop smiling. It’s always good to see them happy. They just want to see me playing.”

He added that he was ready to “[prove] to myself that I can be what I know I am.”

“I’ve noticed no matter how high you are, you can be humbled,” he said.

There is no timeline for Alexander to make a decision on his future, but he is contemplating retirement, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.

While Alexander’s decision is a rarity in football, he will join a growing list of professional athletes who have stepped away from their respective sport to focus on their mental health. Team USA gymnast Simone Biles notably withdrew from competition during the 2020 Summer Olympics, citing mental health concerns.

“I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat, work on my mindfulness,” Biles, 28, said in a press conference after Team USA won the silver medal in Tokyo. “And I knew that the girls would do an absolutely great job. And I didn’t want to risk the team a medal for kind of my screwups, because they’ve worked way too hard for that. So I just decided that those girls need to go and do the rest of our competition.”

Earlier that year, tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the 2021 French Open for similar reasons. After deciding not to participate in a postgame news conference following her first round win, tournament organizers fined her $15,000.

“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” Osaka, now 28, wrote via Instagram at the time. “I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer.”