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.
