Texans S Justin Reid says it will take group effort to replace CB Bradley Roby

The Houston Texans were dealt a challenge on Monday evening when they learned of the suspension of their best cornerback, Bradley Roby.

With the former 2014 Denver Broncos first-round pick out for the final five games and Week 1 of 2021 due to violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy, the Texans will have to find solutions from within.

Safety Justin Reid acknowledges that Roby excels at man coverage, but his absence could present an opportunity for cornerbacks Keion Crossen, Phillip Gaines, Vernon Hargreaves, and John Reid to step up to the challenge.

“Roby is one of our best man coverage players but there’s going to be an opportunity for Keion or Phil or whoever else may be in out there on the field to step up and take some of that effort,” said Reid. “It’s not going to be something that’s going to be replaced by one guy. It’s going to be split between those responsibilities between all the DB’s in the backfield.”

Adversity reveals character, and Reid sees the loss of their best man-cover corner as an opportunity to overcome just another hurdle in the obstacle course of 2020.

Said Reid: “We’re going to make the most out of it. We want to stay true to the defenses that [defensive coordinator] Coach Weave (Anthony Weaver) is calling and plays we’re putting in for them. We’re just going to have to go with that.”

The Texans’ first test without Roby comes against the 7-4 Indianapolis Colts Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium. Part of the Colts’ competitive season that still has them as a strong dark horse to take the AFC South is the play of 39-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers.

“We played Philip last year and had some success against him,” Reid said of the Texans’ 27-20 Week 3 win over Rivers’ old team, the Los Angeles Chargers. “Phil is one of the smartest quarterbacks in the game. He’s going to call out everything that’s going on around him, really take control of the offense.

“The biggest thing is going to be just being sound defensively in both our gap schemes and guys just being with their responsibilities.”