New York Giants Rookie Darius Alexander's on Call for Wherever He's Needed

New York Giants third-round pick Darius Alexander knew before he was drafted what the legendary Big Blue defenses stood for.

Toughness … relentlessness ... grit ... a “see ball, get ball” attitude ... quarterback hunting… These are all things that Alexander wants people to see as defining his game at the NFL level. 

“Just a guy who wants to work hard. That's what I'm going to do. Run to the ball and play fast,” Alexander said after his first practice with his new team concluded.

Alexander is in a unique position for a defensive lineman. Over his college career, he was exposed to multiple defensive systems that could set an athlete’s hair on fire.

While there is some value in carrying over that knowledge, Alexander said he’s ready to wipe the slate clean and be an open book to what Giants defensive line coaches Andre Patterson and Bryan Cox plan to teach him. 

“First impressions are wonderful, cool, laid back, chill coach, but once he gets fired up, he's there and he's all the way there,” Alexander said of Patterson. 

“But it's good to have him around. Great communicator. A coach you can ask him about anything that you need help with on the field or off the field, so it's great.”

Despite having multiple defensive line coaches in college, Alexander is a rare type who still managed to improve year over year. 

He said the key–and one that he plans to deploy as a Giant–is to be an open book.

“For me, it was just being able to buy into what my coach is teaching me,” he said when asked about his gradual improvement year after year. 

“Whatever I did learn before, don’t bring that to the table with them. Learn their drill, learn their work ethic, how they want me to work, and pursue my things out there.”

Besides Patterson and Cox, Alexander will have Dexter Lawrence II in his ear. The rookie said he hadn’t met Lawrence yet, but he was looking forward to getting to know him.

“I’ll probably ask him what his process was throughout the game, how he enjoyed it, what he approached as a rookie, and how he hit the ground running,” Alexander said in response to a question about what the first thing was he hoped to ask Lawrence.

Alexander is a versatile defensive lineman who, while most comfortable at the 3-technique spot, is open to lining up wherever he’s needed, much like former Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck, whose jersey number 91 Alexander will wear for the Giants, did during his career in blue.   

“The main goal for me is just coming in here as a young guy and working…trusting my coaches and the veteran guys out there, believing in them, taking coaching from them while they’re helping me,” he said.

“I just see myself as a guy who goes out there and lines up wherever my coach needs me to be.”

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