Tag: Keisean Nixon

Packers signing former Raiders CB Keisean Nixon

The Packers are signing former Raiders cornerback Keisean Nixon, who played for special teams coach Rich Bisaccia in Las Vegas.

The Green Bay Packers are adding depth at cornerback and on special teams.

According to Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus, the Packers are signing former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Keisean Nixon.

Nixon, 24, has played in 40 career NFL games. He went undrafted out of South Carolina in 2019.

Nixon was a restricted free agent but the Raiders didn’t offer him a tender by the start of the new league year, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Playing for three seasons under former Raiders and current Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia likely influenced the signing. The Packers are also adding depth at cornerback after losing Chandon Sullivan to the Minnesota Vikings.

Nixon has played 273 defensive snaps and 692 snaps on special teams over three seasons. He’s played at least 50 percent of the Raiders special teams snaps each of the last three seasons.

The Packers need to find special teams players for Bisaccia. Two of the team’s top three in special teams snaps from a year ago departed in free agency (Oren Burks, Isaac Yiadom) and the third, Henry Black, is an unsigned free agent.

Nixon, at 5-10 and 192 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds coming out of South Carolina. He produced poor agility times and jumps for a player his size.

In Green Bay, Nixon will get a chance to compete for a roster spot as a backup cornerback and core special teamer.

Keisean Nixon return to practice welcome sight with Raiders rash of injuries at cornerback

Keisean Nixon return to practice welcome sight with Raiders rash of injuries at cornerback

Monday night the Raiders depth at cornerback was tested and then some. The team lost Trayvon Mullen to a foot injury on the first drive of the game. Then a short time later, they saw Mullen’s replacement, Damon Arnette go down with a groin injury. And before all was said and done, nickel corner Nate Hobbs was banged up as well.

This meant the only two cornerbacks left were Casey Hayward and Amik Robertson, which forced the team to play safety Roderic Teamer at the nickel spot.

Well, Mullen and Arnette are still not practicing, which would leave the team with no depth at the position past the three starters. Or it would if not for the return of Keisean Nixon who practiced for the first time since being placed on injured reserve prior to the start of the season.

That means if Hobbs is ok, the team will have the personnel to field at least four cornerbacks on Sunday when the Bears come to town. The only question will be who starts at outside corner if Mullen and Arnette can’t go?

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Four Raiders on injured reserve are eligible to return this week

Four Raiders on injured reserve are eligible to return this week

This season the NFL decided to continue with the same short term injured reserve rules they implemented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rule is that instead of players placed on partial season IR being out at least eight games, they are allowed to return after three weeks.

Any player placed on IR after the 53-man roster cutdown is on short term IR and thus may return as early as three weeks into the season.

Several Raiders players were placed on short term IR prior to the start of the season. Three weeks are in the books, which means all of them are eligible to return.

Those players were RB Jalen Richard, LB Nicholas Morrow, LB Javin White, and CB Keisean Nixon.

Whether any of these players returns is, of course, dependent upon whether they are healthy enough to do so.

The least likely to be ready to come back would figure to be the two linebackers. Both Morrow and White suffered injuries within days of each other during the preseason. White’s was carted off the field in the preseason opener with an apparent serious injury. A few days later, Morrow left the team’s scrimmage with the Rams with an injury and head coach Jon Gruden said shortly thereafter that Morrow’s injury could actually keep him out even longer than White.

Richard could be the most likely to be activated this week. He has been missing the longest, having suffered a foot injury on August 4. The Raiders could also use the depth at running back with Josh Jacobs missing the past two games with and ankle injury.