Tag: Bless Austin

Broncos cut cornerback Bless Austin

The Broncos are parting ways with cornerback Bless Austin.

The Denver Broncos will cut cornerback Bless Austin, according to a report from KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.

Austin, 26, signed with Denver in April after previously spending time with the Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets.

The Broncos’ top cornerbacks on the roster are Pat Surtain, Ronald Darby, K’Waun Williams, Michael Ojemudia and Damarri Mathis. Beyond them, Austin seemed to be competing with Essang Bassey and Faion Hicks for the final CB spot on the roster (assuming the team carries six CBs).

It’s possible that the Broncos might bring Austin back, either on the active roster or on the practice squad. Denver has a few players (including Ojemudia) who might be candidates for injured reserve after the initial 53-man roster is set, which would open up a few more spots.

At the time of this writing, the Broncos have made two cuts so far: Austin and punter Sam Martin. Twenty-five more moves to go (cuts tracker).

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Broncos trying out 7 players at voluntary minicamp

Among the players trying out for the Broncos this week: CB Bless Austin, who has started 17 games in three seasons.

The Denver Broncos kicked off their voluntary minicamp on Monday with new jersey numbers — and some new faces.

The Broncos invited seven players to camp this week on a tryout basis, according to Ryan O’Halloran of The Denver Post. Here’s a quick glance at the players:

  • WR Keelan Doss (6-3, 215 pounds) entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of UC Davis in 2019. He’s spent time with four different teams and has 11 career receptions for 133 yards.
  • WR Juwan Green (6-0, 187 pounds) went undrafted out of Albany in 2020 and he’s spent time with two teams since then but is yet to appear in a regular season game.
  • WR Trey Quinn (6-0, 200 pounds) entered the league as a seventh-round pick out of SMU in 2018. Spending time with three teams, he’s caught 35 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns in the NFL.
  • TE Caleb Wilson (6-4, 240 pounds) is a former seventh-round pick out of UCLA who’s been with four different teams, but he’s yet to catch a pass in a regular season game.
  • RB Artavis Pierce (5-11, 208 pounds) went undrafted out of Oregon State in 2020 before stints with two different teams. He’s rushed for 34 yards and one touchdown in the NFL.
  • CB Bless Austin (6-1, 198 pounds) is a former sixth-round pick out of Rutgers who played for the New York Jets and then with Seattle Seahawks, totaling 98 tackles and eight pass breakups in three seasons.
  • CB Donnie Lewis (6-0, 190 pounds) was a seventh-round pick out of Tulane in 2019. He’s spent time with two different teams since then but is yet to appear in a regular season game.

The Broncos can carry 90 players on their roster in the offseason and they have 23 open spots going into this week’s draft.

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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll considering cornerback changes vs. 49ers

According to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, coach Pete Carroll is mulling a different rotation against the San Francisco 49ers

Cornerback has been a major problem for the Seattle Seahawks defense during the 2021 season. D.J. Reed is playing out of position on the left side, Tre Flowers has gotten beat by every receiver he’s covered so far and both have pointed to confusion and questions about the scheme. We might see a change, though.

According to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, coach Pete Carroll is mulling a different rotation today against the San Francisco 49ers. That could mean expanded roles for two new cornerback that the team acquired just before the regular season began: Sidney Jones and Bless Austin.

Through three games, Jones and Austin have only seen the field on special teams. There’s a risk that comes with playing defenders who don’t have live experience with the system, but it’s hard to imagine that those two could perform any worse than Flowers and Reed have to date.

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Pete Carroll on Seahawks new cornerback Bless Austin: ‘Wow, he’s a hitter’

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had nothing but good things to say about new cornerback Bless Austin, stating: “Wow, he’s a hitter.”

The Seattle Seahawks added another cornerback to the roster this week, signing Bless Austin to the squad on Tuesday. Coach Pete Carroll already likes what he sees.

“Wow, he’s a hitter,” Carroll told reporters on Wednesday. “He has a really aggressive and physical style of play, and that’s what I loved about what I saw. He’s got good size to him, but his willingness to throw his body around and give you everything he’s got is what jumped off of the film to me.”

Austin was originally selected by the Jets in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He started 16 of 18 games played, logging 88 tackles, eight passes defensed and two forced fumbles over the last two seasons in New York.

“I don’t know what happened there, I don’t care, but the style that he brings is something that I was excited about bringing to the club, and we will see what happens,” Carroll continued. “It’s going to be hard for those guys who got here today to have an impact right away, but we are going to push it and see what happens.”

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Jets release projected starting CB Blessuan Austin

The Jets cut starting cornerback Blessuan Austin after trying to trade him earlier this summer.

The Jets cornerback room just got smaller and less experienced.

New York released third-year cornerback Blessuan Austin after the team unsuccessfully tried to trade him, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Austin started 16 games over the past two seasons after the Jets took him in the sixth round of the 2019 draft.

Austin, 25, was expected to start alongside Bryce Hall this year, but now he’ll search for another team. The Rutgers product tallied 88 combined tackles, eight defended passes, two forced fumbles and no interceptions during his two seasons with the Jets.

Austin recently said he was “the real deal” and that he can “make a lot of plays on that field that other corners cannot make.” Apparently, the Jets didn’t feel the same way about the young cornerback.

The Jets could now start one of their 2021 rookies alongside Hall at cornerback. Sixth-round pick Brandin Echols flashed the most this summer, though fellow rookies Jason Pinnock and Isaiah Dunn are also options. The Jets could also pick up another player in free agency or in a trade.

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Bless Austin exuding confidence ahead of third season: ‘I’m the real deal’

Jets cornerback Bless Austin thinks he can take his game to the next level in his NFL third season.

When the Jets selected Bless Austin in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft, they took a flier on a player with a lengthy knee injury history.

Austin has spent every second since dispelling the notion that he did not have what it takes to perform at the professional level after tearing his ACL twice at Rutgers. Austin’s rookie year was an up-and-down one, but he displayed a unique toughness with his coverage and help in run support through it all. Last year featured a little less up-and-down, as Austin became a more consistent performer — albeit still a work in progress — as one of New York’s starting outside cornerbacks.

With the benefit of finally having a full offseason under his belt, Austin is itching to take things up a notch in his third season with the Jets. In fact, he wants to be recognized as one of the NFL’s top-tier cornerbacks by season’s end.

“I come to camp looking for my next contract,” a confident Austin said Monday. “I don’t worry about who’s starting. I think I’m the real deal. Of course, I make mistakes, but I make a lot of plays on that field that other corners cannot make.”

The Jets opted to trust their youth at cornerback in 2021, not adding a veteran in free agency. Austin is a big part of New York’s plans for the immediate future at the position, as he gives Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich a hard-nosed corner they can trust to leave everything on the field every Sunday.

“He’s got a dog mentality from a football sense,” Saleh said. “He is absolutely fearless. He is very strong at the line of scrimmage. At least from the time I’ve gotten here, it doesn’t really look like he’s bothered by the play before. He can move on. Those attributes, the length, the strength, he’s fast enough. It’s just a matter of working the technique and understanding where you fit in the defense.”

If there is anyone for Austin to fine-tune his technique under, it is Saleh. Gang Green’s rookie head coach has worked with many elite defensive backs in the past, making his praise of Austin’s raw ability noteworthy after just two weeks of training camp practices.

Austin takes the field with the confidence of a lockdown cornerback. Now, it’s time for him to translate that mindset into top-level production. If he can achieve that in year three, Austin won’t have to worry about his next contract with the Jets for too much longer.

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Jets are serious about giving young cornerbacks a shot

Robert Saleh reiterated his commitment to the Jets’ cornerback group just as veterans like Brian Poole and Steven Nelson signed elsewhere.

Robert Saleh wasn’t kidding when he said the Jets weren’t going to bring in an experienced cornerback before training camp.

Two veteran free agents – Brian Poole and Steven Nelson – signed elsewhere just days before the Jets opened camp. That leaves the Jets with few quality options if they aren’t satisfied with their current collection of cornerbacks.

It sounds as if they are, though, as Robert Saleh recently reiterated his commitment to the Jets’ young defensive backs. He told the New York Post’s Steve Serby that he didn’t have any concerns about his secondary, which has a combined 35 starts between its five non-rookies.

“It’s a very young group,” Saleh said. Someone’s gonna come to fruition. Bryce Hall had a really nice OTA, Bless [Austin] was having a nice OTA, then he had a minor setback with an injury that kept him out. He’s good to go. Some of the rookies had a chance to showcase their skills.”

Rolling with such an inexperienced group is a major risk for a Jets defense that looks solid at every other position. Joe Douglas beefed up the defensive line with Carl Lawson, Vinny Curry and Sheldon Rankins, the linebackers are led by C.J. Mosley, and Marcus Maye and Lamarcus Joyner will patrol the deep secondary.

But Saleh will rely on his youthful corners to hold down the rest. Hall and Austin have limited experience, while second-year undrafted free agent Javelin Guidry is expected to take over in the nickel with Poole now in New Orleans. Lamar Jackson and Corey Ballentine could assume reserve roles similar to the ones they filled in 2020, but Saleh and Douglas are hoping at least one rookie overperforms this season.

Douglas drafted Jason Pinnock, Michael Carter II, and Brandin Echols and picked up Isaiah Dunn as an undrafted free agent. One of those four could earn a starting role in the secondary and all four of them could earn snaps if they have great camps.

Regardless, the Jets will enter the 2021 season with an incredibly inexperienced cornerback class. The hope is that they will develop nicely over the rest of the summer before taking on their former quarterback – Sam Darnold – in Week 1 when the Jets face the Panthers.

“We’ve got a really good young nucleus of guys that are gonna compete,” Saleh added, “and we’ll see how it goes.”

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Jets CB Bless Austin benefitting from first full NFL offseason

The Jets are counting on Bless Austin to be a productive starter in 2021. His first full NFL offseason could help with that.

It’s rare that one of the elder statesmen of a position group has never reaped the benefits of a full NFL offseason, but that is the position Bless Austin finds himself in entering his third season with the Jets.

When New York selected Austin out of Rutgers in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft, he was coming off a second ACL tear and his focus was on rehabbing the injury. Austin’s first summer with the Jets was dedicated to getting healthy and he did not take the field until late in the regular season.

Austin was healthy and ready to go for a full offseason last year until the COVID-19 pandemic crept up and forced offseason activities to a virtual setting. Austin finally got the chance to participate in training camp, but he missed out on OTAs, minicamp and the preseason.

This spring afforded Austin the opportunity to take part in everything an NFL offseason has to offer. The 24-year-old was present at One Jets Drive for OTAs and minicamp, working to impress Robert Saleh, Jeff Ulbrich and the rest of New York’s new defensive coaching staff and improve his game in each phase of Gang Green’s offseason programming.

“It’s definitely a tremendous benefit,” Austin said, per team reporter Ethan Greenberg. “This is something that you want as a player to take the next step in your game to try and buy as much time as you can to work on certain things that you need to work on from last year before training camp.

“You need things like OTAs where you get to slow it down. There’s no game the next week or the next two weeks. You get to slow it down and really intercept all the information that’s being told, implement it, get the reps and then go into training camp with that knowledge as opposed to learning everything in training camp.”

Austin was, at times, a bright spot for the Jets in a disastrous 2020 season, playing with toughness on a weekly basis and occasionally impressing with his coverage and tackling skills. He has a good chance to hold onto his starting job entering 2021, but first, he will need to show Saleh and Ulbrich that he is up for the task in training camp and the preseason.

The good news for Austin is that he profiles as a fit in New York’s 4-3 defense given his size and length. There is undoubtedly an adjustment going from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 scheme in terms of coverage responsibilities and personnel packages, but Austin’s raw skill set makes him a piece the Jets can plug in as a starter with a good amount of confidence to begin the season.

If Austin continues to develop under Saleh and Ulbrich’s watch, New York could even have itself a key piece to build around at cornerback by year’s end.

“I feel like any system fits me well,” Austin said. “I feel like I have rare ability with my size, but I have the movement, the footwork, the speed, the change of direction and athleticism. Not a lot of other guys in the NFL have the athleticism at my size. It doesn’t matter what scheme I’m in, I’m going to make plays regardless. Having a scheme like this that’s cornerback friendly, it definitely takes the load off and helps you out.”

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Jets vs. Patriots inactives: Bless Austin out for New York’s season finale

Inactives for New York’s season finale against the Patriots.

The Jets will be without one of their starting cornerbacks for their season finale against the Patriots, as Bless Austin is out with an illness.

Austin did not practice at all during the week. New York welcomes back Javelin Guidry against New England after the undrafted free agent missed Gang Green’s win over the Browns with a knee injury. Jeff Smith is also active after being listed as questionable with a knee injury.

The Jets’ inactives for Week 17 include Lawrence Cager, Trevon Coley, James Morgan, James Murray and Ross Travis. Greg Van Roten is active after being activated from injured reserve earlier in the week.

As for the Patriots, they will be without a host of players Sunday. Starting running back Damien Harris, (ankle) center David Andrews (calf) and Shaquille Mason (calf) are all out for New England. Anfernee Jennings, Brian Hoyer, Terez Hall, D’Angelo Ross and Dee Virgin round out the Patriots’ inactives.