Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ Week 2 loss to the Washington Football Team.
The New York Giants were given every imaginable opportunity to win on Thursday night at FedEx Field, but they wanted no part of it.
Injuries, dropped passes, missed tackles, penalties, blown assignments… You name it and the Giants pulled it out of a hat.
In the end, New York fell to 0-2 with the 30-29 loss to Washington.
Here’s a look at the winners, losers and those in between from Week 2.
James Bradberry has nothing but confidence in the New York Giants’ young cornerbacks, including Sam Beal.
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The New York Giants hit it big last season with free agent cornerback James Bradberry. He blossomed into a Pro Bowl talent and is now considered one of the best cover corners in the league.
But the Giants had a hole on the other side of the field that they needed to fill and they believe they did when they inked Adoree’ Jackson, a former first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans.
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Jackson should compliment Bradberry very well this season and beyond but will not play this in this Sunday’s dress rehearsal versus New England due to a sprained ankle he sustained in practice this week.
That opens up an opportunity for one the corners to climb up the depth chart right before the final roster cuts are due next Tuesday.
“I’m confident in whoever they put out there,” Bradberry told reporters on Friday. “I was confident last year in whoever they put out there, so I’m going to be confident this year. My job is to play well, but also help the guy that I’m playing beside whether he’s a young guy or a veteran. I’m going to try to help whoever they put out there.”
One of those players the Giants will put out there is Sam Beal, a former third-round pick (supplemental draft) that is more known for his absences than his play.
“He’s making improvements every day and that’s all you can ask of a young guy in the league, make improvements every day, get better with every rep,” said Bradberry. ‘”I think he’s doing a good job of doing that. (He’s) continually learning and just stacking those days up.”
Another player the Giants want to see on defense is Keion Crossen, who the Giants traded for this month to bolster their special teams.
“Speed,” Bradberry said when asked what he knew so far about Crossen. “I was watching him on kickoff the other day, he’s got a lot of speed.”
Perhaps the player the Giants and their fans are most interested in seeing on Sunday is rookie Rodarius Williams, known for his risk-taking and splashy play.
“He’s got a lot of ability. He’s got some good instincts,” said head coach Joe Judge. “I think for any young player, it’s about just getting into games and learning from the experiences. We’ve seen improvement the entire way through with him. There’s things you just have stay on and correct with every player – the techniques, situational awareness. But he’s definitely a guy we’ve seen improvement from along the way. He’s a hard worker. He’s got a good competitiveness to him.
“He’s a guy that we have confidence in because you know he’s going to go out there and give it 100 percent. He’s a young player, that’s our job as coaches to put him in the right position and keep coaching and correcting him. But he’s done enough this training camp to show that he has that ability to develop in that position.”
Naturally the Giants would love to have their third-round pick, Aaron Robinson, ready for this game, but he is still on the PUP list with a core muscle strain. But he could be close to returning.
Of course, the Giants will use Jackson in that spot once he is healthy again (which should be by the season opener in two weeks) but you can never have enough corners in this league. This game will provide the Giants with some clarity on just how much depth they have at the position.
The Houston Texans have traded cornerback Keion Crossen to the New York Giants.
The Houston Texans don’t just have to cut players to get to 85 players on the roster by Aug. 17 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time: they can also make trades.
According to Aaron Wilson from Sports Talk 790, the Texans dealt cornerback Keion Crossen to the New York Giants. Terms of the trade have not yet been disclosed.
Doug Kyed from Pro Football Focus was first to report.
Crossen originally came from the New England Patriots as part of a trade at the end of the 2019 preseason. With special teams ace Johnson Bademosi part of the left tackle’s ransom that brought Laremy Tunsil to the Texans, Houston acquired the former 2018 seventh-round pick with a 2020 sixth-round pick.
Cornerbacks coach Dino Vasso said the expectations for Crossen were “no different than anyone else” when he met with reporters on June 8.
“It’s about attacking the day and getting better each day,” said Vasso. “As we look at Keion, he’s an athletic player who can run, he’s explosive, he’s long for a guy his height and he’s got impressive ball skills being around him the past couple weeks here. A guy that we’re excited about. A young player that’s progressing and trending in the right direction.”
Crossen played in 32 games for Houston, starting in four of them, and collected 59 tackles, a quarterback hit, and five pass breakups. In the 26-7 preseason win over the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 14, Crossen led the team with four combined tackles.
The New York Giants have acquired CB Keion Crossen from the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round draft pick.
In desperate need of depth along the offensive line, the New York Giants made a trade on Monday. But it had nothing to do with the offensive line.
The Giants have sent a 2023 sixth-round draft pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for cornerback Keion Crossen.
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Despite their impressive depth in the secondary, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman, nicknamed “Trader Dave” after his multiple draft-day moves in April, made the trade for Crossen — likely because of his special teams prowess rather than his defensive ability.
Crossen, 25, was a seventh-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2018 NFL draft. After one season in Foxborough, where he was a special team standout under Joe Judge, Crossen was traded to the Texans for a conditional draft pick.
Crossen had spent the previous two seasons in Houston.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Crossen has appeared in 43 career games (four starts), recording 73 tackles (57 solo), one QB hit and six passes defensed.
In 2020, Crossen earned an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 58.6, which represented a career-high. His special teams grade of 58.7 was a career-low.
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The Houston Texans have a dependable special teamer in cornerback Keion Crossen. Can he take another leap as a valuable member of the secondary?
Since the Houston Texans traded for Keion Crossen in 2019, his availability on Sundays has been more reliable than his pass coverage. In 2020, Crossen allowed 16 receptions on 28 targets while allowing 14.1 yards per catch.
As he enters his third season in Houston, Crossen’s 2021 season could be in jeopardy given the number of cornerbacks the Texans will have come the first day of training camp.
The Houston Texans have a stacked cornerback group, which means Keion Crossen must do what he can to separate himself from the pack.
The Houston Texans have an overcrowded cornerback group with Bradley Roby, Vernon Hargreaves, Terrance Mitchell, Desmond King, John Reid, and Tavierre Thomas just to name a few.
Throw in cornerback Keion Crossen and the Texans will have decisions to make about the unit throughout training camp and preseason.
For Crossen, a former 2018 New England Patriots seventh-round pick from Western Carolina, he will have more competition to work against as he continues to build the momentum from the final four games of 2020 when he started every game, collected 22 combined tackles and five pass breakups.
New cornerbacks coach Dino Vasso likes the athleticism that the 5-10, 185-pound Crossen can bring to the unit.
“Really the expectation for Keion is no different than anyone else,” Vasso told reporters on a Zoom call on June 8. “It’s about attacking the day and getting better each day. As we look at Keion, he’s an athletic player who can run, he’s explosive, he’s long for a guy his height and he’s got impressive ball skills being around him the past couple weeks here; a guy that we’re excited about; a young player that’s progressing and trending in the right direction.”
Through 32 career games with the Texans, Crossen has provided 59 combined tackles and five pass breakups. Crossen has been primarily used on special teams throughout his past two seasons in Houston with 516 special teams snaps compared to 439 on defense. 2021 represents an opportunity for Crossen to separate himself from the pack and become a key part of the Texans’ secondary.
Three Houston Texans players appear to be taking part in voluntary offseason workouts, according to an Instagram post from TE Kahale Warring.
The NFL began Phase I of their offseason program by allowing teams to hold voluntary workouts on Monday. With a number of players across the league opting out due to COVID-19 concerns, the Houston Texans possibly had a significant turnout.
According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, multiple players participated in the Texans’ voluntary offseason conditioning program on the first day.
The names of the players that were in attendance have remained anonymous, but a social media post by one of the Texans’ tight ends hinted at three players who could be participating: tight end Jordan Akins, tight end Kahale Warring, and cornerback Keion Crossen.
It looks like Kahale Warring, Jordan Akins and Keion Crossen are three players participating in the Texans voluntary workouts at NRG. pic.twitter.com/PeHrcKZo8c
— Locked On Texans (@lockedontexans) April 22, 2021
The photo of three players likely attending workouts at NRG Stadium appeared on Warring’s Instagram story on Thursday.
Phase I of the NFL’s offseason program will run for four weeks from April 19 to May 14. The first of four phases will include a two-hour virtual Zoom meeting with the facility open for conditioning. As of now, all on-field workouts with coaches are prohibited until Phase II beginning on May 17.
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The Houston Texans are having to dig deep for help at cornerback, but giving reps to Keion Crossen will help in the long run.
The Houston Texans don’t have any options at cornerback.
Bradley Roby is lost for the season serving a six-game suspension, and Gareon Conley could never get on the field after recovering from offseason ankle surgery. Phillip Gaines and rookie John Reid have similarly battled injuries in the past few weeks the have compromised Houston’s availability at cornerback.
Enter Keion Crossen. The third-year defensive back from Western Carolina has had to transition from being a special teams ace to being a cover corner for the injury-riddle Texans secondary.
“Keion has always had a lot of confidence in his ability and what he could do and now he’s getting an opportunity to play defense pretty much on a full-time basis,” interim coach Romeo Crennel said.
Over the past three starts, Crossen has collected 23 combined tackles and five pass breakups. His four pass breakups in the 37-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals were especially impressive as he earned them going against Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Green.
“I think that you see that he competes,” said Crennel. “He will accept a challenge. He’s not perfect, but he learns from his mistakes and so I see him getting better and being able to make plays on the ball, and he tackles. I think this opportunity for him has been very helpful.”
Though Gaines may be back in time for the season finale against the Tennessee Titans Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Staidum, the Texans may continue to rely on Crossen as they attempt to lock up their AFC South rival’s dynamic receiving corps. Crossen would get a great learning experience guarding receiver A.J. Brown, who has 60 catches for 924 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. Houston will see the full force of the Titans as they have yet to lock up the division or a playoff spot.
Houston Texans cornerback Keion Crossen has provided energy for the defense, according to defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver.
Houston Texans cornerback Keion Crossen has been a gem for the defense and special teams.
The Texans acquired Crossen from the New England Patriots at the end of preseason in 2019. Since joining Houston after the club gave up a 2021 sixth-round pick to get him, Crossen has provided more than 46 combined tackles, one quarterback hit, and two pass breakups in 30 career games, two of which he has started.
According to defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, the former 2018 seventh-round pick from West Carolina gives energy to the team.
“He’s an energy-giver,” Weaver said. “He competes. He can probably put on a little weight. In Chicago it was a little windy and I thought he was going to get blown away out there, but he is awesome and he competes. He’s like a gnat. I love the kid to death and I’m happy he’s on our team.”
On the 80-yard touchdown run the Texans defense gave up on their first play of the game in Week 14 to commence their 36-7 loss to the Chicago Bears, Crossen was racing on the backside to attempt to stop running back David Montgomery, even though it wouldn’t be possible for Crossen to make a play in time.
“We give up an 80-yard run in the first play in Chicago, which everybody knows,” said Weaver. “What people don’t know is on that 80-yard run, Keion Crossen was on the backside numbers and got in the picture where he was like at the end – he couldn’t have made the play but you talk about just giving tremendous effort and care every single snap. That’s that guy.”
With the Texans thin at cornerback with Phillip Gaines questionable for the game, Crossen will get another shot to prove his worth in the secondary as the Texans take on the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium.
The Houston Texans had some good news on Thursday when their three injured cornerbacks practiced, albeit on a limited basis.
The Houston Texans announced their Thursday injury report as they gear up to play the Chicago Bears Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at Soldier Field for Week 14.
On Wednesday, cornerbacks Keion Crosssen (foot), Phillip Gaines (knee/shoulder), and John Reid (neck) did not practice. On Thursday, they did practice, though on a limited basis.
Joining the cornerbacks as limited participants were receiver Brandin Cooks (foot/neck) and running back Duke Johnson (illness).
Receiver Keke Coutee (knee) and running back C.J. Prosise (illness) were limited on Wednesday, but they were able to practice fully on Thursday.
Tight end Pharaoh Brown (concussion) and running back David Johnson (not injury related) did not practice.
For Chicago, linebacker Khalil Mack (shoulder) did not practice for the second straight day, and receiver Allen Robinson (knee) practiced on a limited basis again.
For more information on the Bears’ injury report, check out the Bears Wire.
