Roc Alexander would like to erase the memories of last season’s playoff nightmare in Indianapolis. But he can’t. Not completely. And the hard truth of the matter is he shouldn’t.
But somehow, the 23-year-old cornerback from Colorado Springs’ Wasson High School must find a way to not be haunted by it. It’s a tough trick.
“If you want to be a successful cornerback in this league, you have to sweep the bad games under the table, but you also have to learn from your mistakes,” Broncos Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey said last week during minicamp.
Alexander has watched the footage of the Colts’ 49-24 wild-card demolition of the Broncos.
“I’ve looked at it, but I don’t want to look at it, you know?” Alexander said. “I’ve got to remember it was just one game. I’ve got to get over it and get better out there.”
That game tape shows Colts quarterback Peyton Manning throwing for 457 yards, the second most in NFL postseason history, and four touchdowns. That tape shows wide receiver Reggie Wayne catching 10 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns, setting a Colts postseason record for receiving yards. That tape shows Alexander twisted into a pretzel trying to cover Wayne, looking like the raw, exposed rookie that he was.
Because of an injury to Willie Middlebrooks late in the season, Alexander became Denver’s primary nickel back. He had played well, but under the white-hot spotlight on the playoff stage he was burned to a crisp.
“That game just got real big for him,” recalled Jimmy Spencer, Denver’s assistant defensive backs coach who played cornerback for 12 NFL seasons. “A couple of times I looked in his eyes on that sideline and I said, ‘Oh, Lord.’ I saw it, and I just tried to prop him up.”
A lot of Alexander’s teammates and coaches tried to prop him up – during and after the debacle. Veterans Rod Smith, John Lynch and Al Wilson pulled him up when he was feeling down.
“What happened that day could be devastating for him, but I think he’ll come through,” Lynch said. “I liked what I saw of Roc last year. We all played bad that game. Roc happened to be the guy they picked on at corner. I told him, ‘You’ve got to get right back out there, and we believe in you. You’re going to be fine.”‘
Lynch’s understanding stems from his own experiences, particularly against Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders.
“I remember I had some rough games early on against Barry,” said the six-time Pro Bowl safety, thinking back on his days with Tampa Bay. “It was early in a game and I missed him and Barry went 80 yards. Warren Sapp said, ‘There’s no one else I’d rather have in that position to tackle him. He’s made a lot of people look silly in this business.’ Things like that mean something to players.”
Defensive coordinator Larry Coyer expressed confidence in Alexander, and said it’s wrong to make Alexander the poster boy for Denver’s defensive meltdown in Indianapolis.
“I think it was a growing experience for all of us, not just Roc,” Coyer said. “We all took it on the chin. We put him in a bad deal. I think it’s our job to make him understand that the game is behind us.
“We were humiliated. For him to take the brunt of that just wouldn’t be fair.”
Alexander is ready to move forward.
“It took me a while to get back to it, a couple months to get my mind right,” he said. “I took it personally and just plan to get better and to work harder.”
He had better. This spring the Broncos drafted three speedy cornerbacks – Darrent Williams, Karl Paymah and Domonique Foxworth – and the defensive backfield became more crowded and more talented.
“I think Roc will be OK,” Spencer said. “His mind-set is good, he’s training real hard, he’s been studying film and he’s been wanting to go over different things and get extra work. I don’t know if that comes from wanting to bounce back, or if it’s the three cornerbacks we took in the draft, but he’s had a good offseason.”
With the July 28 reporting day for training camp looming, visions of that Jan. 9 playoff nightmare have grown a bit hazy.
“It’s like, ‘Wow, I can’t even believe I played that game,”‘ Alexander said. “I’m pretty sure everyone had a bad game in their lifetime. I just hope I don’t have another one like that. So last year is last year, I just have to get better. You dwell on last year and you won’t be heard from for a long time.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
