Cardinals CB Alford: ‘I have to give them back what they blessed me with’

After missing the last two NFL seasons, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Robert Alford is ready to prove the organization made the right decision by signing him.

Suffering a broken leg and torn pectoral in training camp the last two years, Alford said he’s feeling good and the time he missed taught him to be patient and try to take advantage of each day.

“I’m 32 but I feel like I’m 25,” he said while joining the Big Red Rage with Paul Calvisi and Ron Wolfley. “We added in Pilates this offseason, so more so stretching, getting the body ready for training camp.”

Alford said he’s motivated to prove that the Cardinals made the right decision in signing him after he was released by the Atlanta Falcons in 2018. He said he feel like he owes it to the franchise to come back and contribute.

The Cardinals released Alford back in March to save cap space, but signed him back to a one-year deal just a few days later.

“They blessed me to come here to show my talents and to prove myself that I’m still that great cornerback in the league,” he said. “I told my agent ‘I had to return here.’ I had to give them back what they blessed me with these past two years.”

Alford said camp has gotten off to a good start and that him and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins have been going at it in practice.

He said Hopkins is for sure a top-three receiver in the game and being able to talk to him about what he sees against the Cardinals defense can help them prepare.

“It’s great competition just to be able to practice against him each day,” Alford said.

The veteran corner knows that this season, tackling in the secondary will be ever important.

He said they brought in some great tacklers in the secondary, primarily fellow corner and FCS-standout Malcolm Butler, who Alford can relate to.

Alford played his college ball at Southeast Louisiana, while Butler attended West Alabama.

“Coming from a small school, you’re always going to have that chip on your shoulder,” he said. “Both of us feel like we could’ve went D1.”

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