Alford Locked in with Cardinals During Injuries, Motivated to Prove Himself

He called that being a professional.

"My No. 1 thing was to stick around and help the guys that had questions and give my feedback one I watched the film," Alford said. 

Alford also dove deep into defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's playbook, and while he watched Cardinals tape on an iPad, he called out the plays as they were happening to mimic making the calls in game speed. 

"With me being injured these two years, it helped me to just figure out another part of my game that I could get better in," Alford said. 

While he never considered hanging up his cleats, he called losing two years of his playing career a "dark time." He leaned on his love of the game, his coaches and teammates as well as family to get through it. His mother even sent him "positive Bible quotes" every day during his rehab. 

He was motivated to make it back and become a primary player for the Cardinals, the team he signed a three-year deal with during the 2019 offseason. 

The Cardinals released Alford on March 10 to save $7.5 million in cap space before re-signing him two days later for the minimum $990,000 base salary. He said he has something to prove, and he wants to show his coaches and teammates that he is the same player or an even better one than when he first touched down in the Valley. 

"Basically he told us, 'Hey, I want to come back. I owe you guys, so I'll come back for whatever deal. And because I owe the organization, I owe the Cardinals and I want to prove that you all are right about me,' which obviously we respect that a ton," head coach Kliff Kingsbury said last Tuesday. "He's a great leader around here, brings great juice, great energy, and it's been great to see him back out there."

During minicamp, Alford got to put his deeper knowledge of the Cardinals playbook to the test during walk-throughs with a group of primarily new cornerbacks. The Cardinals added veterans Malcolm Butler and Darqueze Dennard in free agency and drafted Marco Wilson and Tay Gowan. Their starters from 2020, Patrick Peterson and Dre Kirkpatrick, are no longer around.

Alford's expertise could come in handy in that room, and cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. noted that Alford is one of the main talkers when the defensive backs huddle up. 

The veteran said he has no reservations about getting hurt again, that injuries happen in football and he was unfortunate to get hurt two years in a row. Luckily, he did not aggravate an injury or suffer something seemingly long-term.

"Alford's been down two years but it wasn't injuries where you say, 'The guy wasn't in shape,'" Joseph said. "Football injuries happen and he knows if he's healthy, man, he's a big part this defense."

Alford said that his goal is to be a starter again, and he loves the competition for that spot. 

He worked hard for two straight years to get back in football shape after injuries, and that drive is something he wants to continue to show.

His teammates see that. 

"He still looks like the great Robert Alford, a fresh Robert Alford," Baker said Tuesday. "I'm excited to see him play because today he was locking some stuff up and it was great to see."

Murphy added: "You just can tell how motivated he is to come back this season and play and show us what he can do."