Tag: cornerback

Johnathan Joseph: Texans win over Patriots ‘means a lot’

On Sunday, the Houston Texans got the upset win, besting the vaunted New England Patriots. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph said it means a lot.

Two weeks ago, the Houston Texans were down in the dumps. They lost a 41-7 beatdown to the Baltimore Ravens, ending any momentum they once had. On Sunday, Dec. 1, they regained that momentum.

The Texans, for the first time since Jan. 3, 2010, beat the New England Patriots on Sunday. For veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph, that win means a lot, especially with the Ravens loss fresh on the minds of many.

“It means a lot. I think for this team to be atop the AFC South and where we want to be late in the year,” said Joseph post-game. “This win means a lot to this team because we have a lot of young guys, veteran guys, a mixture, and I think we got — I wouldn’t say an up and down season, but a couple games early on we bounced back and then that Baltimore game. And then go out and play the way we did and put two games impressive back to back, I think that means something.”

Joseph, 35, led a young, rebuilt Texans secondary to a 28-22 win over New England, with two of the Patriots’ touchdowns coming against a prevent defense.

The secondary was the star of the show for the Texans’ defense, Joseph included. Tom Brady completed just 51.1% of his passes against Houston. Take away his two garbage-time touchdowns, and his 85.9 passer rating dips to 68.3.

In the win, Joseph tallied four combined tackles and two pass deflections. The secondary got an interception early on, with Bradley Roby — who played for the first time since Week 6 (hamstring) — perfectly reading Brady for a pick to give the offense the ball in the red zone.

Moving forward, the Texans, including the secondary, feel good about their chances with increased confidence coming in Sunday’s win. Next week, they will go from GOAT to rookie quarterback when they face the Denver Broncos and Drew Lock in his second career start.

Texans CB Bradley Roby played with heavy heart against the Patriots

Houston Texans cornerback Bradley Roby was playing with a heavy heart during the club’s 28-22 win over the New England Patriots Sunday night.

HOUSTON — Houston Texans cornerback Bradley Roby played with a heavy heart Sunday night in the team’s 28-22 win over the New England Patriots at NRG Stadium.

The 27-year-old buried his 85-year-old grandfather in Mississippi the day before making his return to the gridiron after being sidelined with a hamstring injury since the Week 6 win at the Kansas City Chiefs.

“This game was special to me because my grandfather just passed and I went to the funeral yesterday and I promised him and I promised him that I would make some plays,” Roby said. “He was blind, so he never saw me play. But maybe he could see me now. That’s what I wanted to do was honor him and rest in peace for my granddad.”

Roby collected three tackles and was arguably the best thing the Texans had going defensively. The former 2014 Denver Broncos first-round pick intercepted Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on a third-and-4 from the New England 25-yard line and returned the takeaway up to the Patriots’ 6-yard line.

Even though an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Roby pushed the Texans’ starting position to the 21-yard line instead, the interception was the catalyst for Houston’s first score of the game, a 14-yard touchdown pass from from quarterback Deshaun Watson to running back Duke Johnson to take a 7-3 lead with 45 seconds to go in the first quarter.

“That’s something that I like to take pride in, being a game changer and making plays,” said Roby. “I was telling the guys earlier in the week I was going to make a play. I don’t know what it was, but I was going to make a play. So, I’m happy that I was able to.”

Roby added 1.0 sack, a quarterback hit, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup. The Fort Worth native would have collected his second interception of the night, one that would have gone for a touchdown, but it was called back due to defensive holding on Roby.

Nonetheless, Roby picked up on the emotion.

Said Roby: “When I scored, I felt that energy, the whole crowd just went crazy. That’s why I took my helmet off. I just wanted him to feel me. I felt so good. I felt so great.”

Huge sentiments often lead to big performances, and the Texans benefited from Roby’s play to improve to 8-4 on the season and prove their worth against the best team in the conference.

Texans happy to have hard-working former Patriot CB Keion Crossen

The Houston Texans are happy to have former New England Patriots cornerback Keion Crossen on the field, who they traded for in August.

In trading for cornerback Keion Crossen from the New England Patriots on Aug. 31, the Houston Texans got themselves a young, versatile cover man and a core special teamer.

“Keion brings a lot of energy to the team,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said on Wednesday in a conference call with the Patriots beat. “He’s done a decent job on special teams. He’s a competitive guy. He’s been a really good teammate and he’s a hard-working guy.”

The Texans traded a sixth-round selection for Crossen. A seventh-round selection in 2018 out of Western Carolina, the 23-year-old will face his old team on Sunday, when the Patriots come into Houston for Sunday Night Football at NRG Stadium.

Crossen has played 102 defensive snaps and 168 special teams snaps with the Texans. In doing so, he has seven combined tackles and a pass deflection. According to Pro Football Reference, he has allowed an 81.9 passer rating in coverage in 2019, allowing four receptions for 35 yards.

Can the Texans count on cornerback Bradley Roby versus the Patriots?

Houston Texans CB Bradley Roby suffered a hamstring injury in Week 6, and is trending in the right direction for the New England Patriots.

The Houston Texans’ best cornerback has not played a snap since Week 6’s 31-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Bradley Roby, who suffered a strained hamstring in the victory, has sat out numerous weeks to make his highly-anticipated recovery.

That recovery could come on Sunday, against Tom Brady and the vaunted New England Patriots. On Wednesday, coach Bill O’Brien indicated that he, along with others, are trending in the right direction for Sunday.

“I think that there is a lot of guys probably trending in the right direction,” O’Brien told reporters Wednesday. “I think today and tomorrow is probably a big day for that. We’ll see how those two days go, but yea, I think there is a lot of guys trending in the right direction.”

Roby split time between the slot and boundary before suffering the injury. According to Pro Football Reference, he allowed an 88.3 passer rating in coverage prior to sustaining the injury.

On Wednesday’s injury report, Roby was listed as limited.

Broncos might add a cornerback this week

Broncos general manager John Elway might add a cornerback to the 53-man roster ahead of Sunday’s game against the Chargers.

Broncos cornerback Duke Dawson is in the concussion protocol and might not be able to play in Sunday’s game against the Chargers. With Dawson potentially sidelined this week, coach Vic Fangio said Monday that the team will consider adding another cornerback to the roster.

“We need to look at that and Cyrus’ [Jones] illness affects that too,” Fangio said. “We were already kind of light back there as you guys know. Yeah, we need to look at that.”

Jones missed last week’s game and his status for Week 13 is uncertain. One option for Denver would be to promote rookie cornerback Alijah Holder from the 10-man practice squad to the active roster. If Holder is promoted, the Broncos would have to make a corresponding move to make room for him on the 53-man roster.

Fangio said Denver’s decision to potentially add a cornerback to the roster will not influence the team’s decision on quarterback Drew Lock, who is a candidate to be promoted from injured reserve to the active roster. The Broncos will need to create a roster spot for Lock, too.

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Cyrus Jones will be DB first, returner second for Broncos

The Broncos plan to take a look at cornerback/returner Cyrus Jones primarily as a defensive back.

The Denver Broncos picked up cornerback/returner Cyrus Jones off waivers last week, adding more depth on defense and on special teams.

Jones (5-10, 200 pounds) entered the league as a second-round pick out of Alabama with the Patriots in 2016. He failed to live up to his draft status as a cornerback and has bounced back and forth between New England’s roster and the Ravens’ roster over the last four years.

Jones has been used primarily as a returner in the NFL and he’s been plagued by fumbles, fumbling once on a kickoff and six times on punt returns. Denver may use him in nickel situations.

“He’s obviously a DB who has played some nickel in his past,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said on Nov. 14. “He’s primarily been a punt returner where he’s gotten most of his time. We’ll see.”

Diontae Spencer has been Denver’s returner this year and it sounds like his job in safe. Jones will likely serve as a rotational defensive back and as a backup returner.

“We liked him to some degree,” Fangio said of Jones. “We want to see what he is as a DB first and foremost and then that he can return punts is a bonus.”

Jones, 25, has recorded 31 tackles in his career and has totaled 655 return yards (on kickoffs and punts) and has scored one touchdown.

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This is why Broncos CB Bryce Callahan didn’t play this season

“They put a screw in there to promote healing and the screw got bent,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said of Bryce Callahan’s surgery.

Denver Broncos general manager John Elway signed cornerback Bryce Callahan to a three-year, $21 million contract in March knowing that the defensive back was coming off a foot injury with the Chicago Bears.

Denver believed Callahan would be healed in time for the regular season and he had success in coach Vic Fangio‘s defensive scheme while in Chicago. Unfortunately, Callahan never fully recovered from his procedures and the cornerback was placed on injured reserve last week.

“Part of his operation — which is routine — they put a screw in there to promote healing and the screw got bent,” Fangio said on Nov. 15. “It caused him a lot of discomfort and pain. Some guys have been able play through with that based upon the level of discomfort and pain.

“His level was too high for him to play through that. Basically, the screw got bent. I don’t know what having a screw bent in your foot feels like it.”

Callahan will have to undergo yet another surgery but as long as there aren’t any more complications, the 28-year-old cornerback should be ready in time for the 2020 season. Callahan will have the bent screw in his foot replaced.

“He should be,” Fangio said when asked if Callahan will be fully healthy for next season. “Like I said it’s — according to the medical people, it’s a routine— it’s hard to say routine when you’re talking about somebody else’s operation, but it happens a lot. That’s what they do when somebody gets that injury. He should recover from it.”

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CB Vernon Hargreaves expects to play inside for the Texans

Newly acquired Houston Texans cornerback Vernon Hargreaves is expecting to play inside for his new organization, a new fold in his career.

Newly acquired Houston Texans cornerback Vernon Hargreaves is still getting acclimated to his new employer. While he learns the ropes of the Texans organization, he also is adjusting to playing in a new alignment.

On Monday, Hargreaves said he expects to play inside for the Texans. He previously played the majority of his snaps as an outside cornerback with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Playing nickel corner isn’t new to Hargreaves. In 2017, while struggling outside, Tampa Bay moved him to the inside in Week 7 of the season. The results: positive.

In four weeks playing slot cornerback in 2017, Hargreaves graded in as Pro Football Focus‘ second-highest graded corner. He allowed a catch rate below 37.5% in coverage and 0.41 yards per coverage snap.

Hargreaves is adjusting to getting the Texans’ defensive calls down, which are more numerous while playing nickel.

“Corner is a little bit easier because the calls aren’t as complex as playing on the inside, and I think I’ll be playing inside,” Hargreaves said on Monday. “You know I got to communicate a little more, got to talk a little more, got to see a little more. We’ll see how far I can come along, and then we’ll see how it plays out.”

Despite Hargreaves’ relative newness to the Texans, he believes he has the calls down with his new team. His experience in the NFL has helped him understand what Houston is asking from him in terms of a defensive standpoint.

“Being around it for my fourth year now, I understand what’s going on defensively,” said Hargreaves. “There’s only so much you can do, you know? The terms change, but you know there’s only so much you can do on defense. I’m not nervous or confused about picking anything up.”

Hargreaves and the Texans are looking for redemption. The 11th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, he didn’t work out in Florida as the lockdown outside corner they hoped he’d be. Now, in Texas, he doesn’t have the pressure of being a high draft pick, but he may have a new position that compliments him.

How the Dolphins can best improve their defense this offseason

If the Dolphins are going to “right the ship” in 2020, there’s only so many opportunities to upgrade. Where will Miami need to invest?

Brian Flores’ defense has plenty of potential, we can all agree to that. But what we saw in Week 11 against the Buffalo Bills serves as the sober reminder that while the team is capable of good performances, this roster isn’t where it needs to be in order for the defense to be effective on a weekly basis. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen tore the Dolphins apart — rarely pressures, hardly bothered and able to run freely into the second level when he decided it was time to run.

And for all the strong spots the Dolphins have established, this past game serves Miami a clear blueprint on where they need to get better. The Dolphins defense is strong up the middle. Davon Godchaux, Christian Wilkins, Jerome Baker and Raekwon McMillan are a great interior group. The edges of this defense? That’s where the focus needs to be this offseason. That’s where the investments need to come.

Miami has gotten admirable contributions from the likes of Taco Charlton, Vince Biegel, Nik Needham, Stephen Parker and others — but both positions need a massive influx of talent: including fresh starters all around.

Defensive end and cornerback are where Miami should (and probably will) pour significant investments into the defense — Miami’s aggressive defense won’t do you any good if you don’t have the defenders to consistently play man coverage or show the explosiveness to get home off the edge.

Vince Biegel? He’s a terrific early down option and in a perfect world, a rotational defender who brings energy and can help set the line against the run. But on 3rd and 15, Biegel isn’t a player who has the ideal level of juice in his first step to stress tackles and get quarterbacks off their spot.

Taco Charlton? He’s been more opportunistic than effective — granted, that in itself is a gift. But he’s also ideally a depth option, not a starter.

The Dolphins cornerbacks will be aided by the return of Xavien Howard next season, but Miami will still need two or three additional cornerbacks before this position group is where it needs to be from a talent perspective so that players like Needham are proportionately aligned on the depth chart with their potential and ceiling.

If the Dolphins want to fix this defense in an offseason, that’s where the investments need to go. Thankfully, it is a great year to need both positions. But Miami must find the balance between properly investing there and helping to build out the offense — which will not be an easy task.

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CB Johnathan Joseph: Texans didn’t do enough defensively against the Ravens

Houston Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph said that the defense did not do enough against the Baltimore Ravens in a blowout loss.

When the opponent scores 41 points, the presumption is that the defense did not do enough against the offense. On Sunday, that notion is applicable to the Houston Texans defense against the Baltimore Ravens, as they were outscored 41-7.

“We just didn’t execute the defense as a team. When you come on the road in a tough environment, you know it’s going to be tough, but, at the end of the day, we didn’t do enough,” said cornerback Johnathan Joseph after the loss. 

The Ravens recorded 25 first downs to the Texans’ 16 on Sunday. Their 491 total yards doubled the 232 from Houston. On third-down the Ravens converted 56% of their attempts (nine) to 20% from Houston (10).

The Texans could not get off the field. Even worse: Baltimore’s 41 points came after a first quarter in which Houston allowed none and did a relatively good job of shutting down quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“We got off to a hard start on defense,” continued Joseph. “We got two fourth-down stops if I remember correctly and then, I wouldn’t say things spiraled out. But third downs, we had them a couple of times and let them get out. There were several second-and-longs, and they made a couple catch and runs and moved the chains.”

Houston’s defensive performance was one to forget. There aren’t any individual places to point the blame to. The loss was a group effort. The pass-rush couldn’t get to Jackson; the secondary struggled; the run defense wasn’t there; the linebackers were exploited in coverage.

“There were a lot of things throughout the game, said Joseph, “but it wasn’t any one thing in particular other than Lamar Jackson at quarterback.” 

The culmination of a defense that struggled in most areas and couldn’t contain Jackson is their worst loss in recent memory. Luckily, they will be able to shake it off quickly, as Houston plays host to the rival Indianapolis Colts on Thursday.