A lot of the confidence he credits to Gray, his former mentor at Virginia Tech who has eased his transition into the NFL greatly.

"He's as helpful as can be. I can go to him about anything and not be nervous or shy," Alexander said. "I spent my first times playing real football with him as my coach, so I can go to him comfortably and ask him what I need to ask him and he'll help me out."

So far, that's primarily been about film study.

"When I wasn't out there he was just making sure that I knew everything, asking me 'do you know this, do you know that?" Just making sure I stayed on top of everything," Alexander said.

He hasn't thought too much about what it will be like to run out of the tunnel on Friday night, alongside former Hokies teammates in Greg Stroman and Tim Settle, in front of Redskins fans under the lights, but he has high expectations.