Finding comfort zone
Ex-Bronco Roby has shown that when healthy, he can be Texans’ best cornerback
Bradley Roby stood in the hallway outside the Texans’ locker room this week, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.
The dark attire didn’t match his upbeat mood. Roby smiled and held court in one of his lengthiest interviews since joining the Texans in March as a free agent.
Days after honoring his late grandfather, Cleo Bush, by dedicating his best game of the season to his memory with an interception and a sack of quarterback Tom Brady in a Sunday night win over New England, Roby was asked a question that could be pivotal to his future and the outlook of the Texans’ secondary.
Roby is playing under a oneyear, $10 million contract, a prove-it deal that gives him and the Texans this season to determine if it makes sense to try to strike a new deal.
Based on Roby’s eye-catching performances when healthy — last Sunday was his first game back after missing five games with a hamstring injury — and his comfort level with the organization, this could emerge as a longterm relationship.
“I was actually born in Texas, but I never lived in Texas,” said Roby, who was born in Fort Worth but attended high school in Georgia before becoming an All-Big Ten defensive back at Ohio State. “Just living here, I love the city. I love the fans. The fans go crazy here. I love the food and the weather. In Denver, it’s probably snowing right now. The sun is out right now, and it feels good.”
Beyond those lifestyle elements, Roby is thoroughly enjoying playing for the Texans under coach Bill O’Brien heading into Sunday’s game at NRG against the Broncos, the franchise that drafted Roby in the first round in 2014.
In a win-now mode, the Texans have aggressively worked to upgrade the roster with new players like Roby and fellow corners Lonnie Johnson Jr., Vernon Hargreaves and Gareon Conley, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills, running backs Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson, and safety Tashaun Gipson.
Accustomed to winning in college under former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer, Roby is thinking about the big picture of playing for a successful franchise. While any future contract consideration will, as always, come down to price and market demand, Roby values playing for a contender.
“The coaching staff, they really want excellence, and that’s what I want to do: I want to win” said Roby, who earned a ring in Denver as a starting nickel back when the Broncos beat the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. “I came here to win. You know I love the fact that OB (O’Brien) stresses winning, and that’s what everything is about. It’s about winning, and I love that. Because that’s how it was in college with Urban Meyer, and I feel like that OB is like that here. I just love everything about it.”
Roby established again that he’s the Texans’ top cornerback with how he played against the Patriots. He shoved aside rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry (6-4, 225) and undercut an errant Brady throw to set up an early touchdown.
Roby also sprinted into the backfield to deck Brady, a six-time Super Bowl winner, for a sack and a loss of 10 yards.
He had another interception negated by his defensive holding penalty, finishing his first game back from the leg injury with four tackles, one sack, one interception, one tackle for a loss, one quarterback hit and one pass defensed.
Roby’s aggressive presence was missed when he injured his leg against Kansas City in October. Capable of lining up inside or outside, Roby’s 4.39 speed in the 40-yard dash and cover skills are formidable assets.
The primary caveat surrounding Roby this year is his health. During his five years with the Broncos, the 5-11, 192-pounder was extremely durable and only missed one game.
“I think that Bradley, he’s got a lot of talent, right?” O’Brien said. “He’s got good speed, good feet, good ball skills. The big thing with Bradley has been health. Just making sure that he can be available to the team, that’s the big thing. If he stays available to the team, he’s healthy, then he can help us.”
For the season, Roby has recorded 28 tackles, two for losses, five passes defensed and one forced fumble in seven starts. The Texans have gone 5-2 in those games. He is the only Texans corner with an interception.
“Well, he’s a good corner,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said. “He has good man-to-man skills. He can shadow most receivers. He can be sticky at times on his guy and he’s always been a player that’s had the ability to cover.”
Roby has been targeted 40 times this season and has allowed a 62.5 completion percentage against him with a long completion of 27 yards with opposing quarterbacks posting a cumulative 75.2 passer rating against him, according to the analyticsbased website Pro Football Focus.
“Obviously, he’s a big part of what we have going on here,” veteran corner Johnathan Joseph said. “Him coming back gave us a spark, another veteran in the room. I’m sure he’ll give us that same spark on Sunday.”
How Roby has covered and reacted on the field isn’t a surprise to the Texans’ coaching staff. He’s always had the ability even though consistency issues dogged him with the Broncos, where he was the third corner behind Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib for the majority of his tenure.
While Roby was out, the Texans traded for Conley and acquired Hargreaves off waivers. Having Roby back working with so many other corners bolsters the secondary.
For Roby, missing that much time was rough. He wanted to get back on the field as quickly as possible, but he was advised by doctors that if he suffered a setback, he could miss the remainder of the season. Patience was hard to maintain.
“It was very tough because I felt like I let the team down,” Roby said. “I wasn’t there and I knew they needed me. They made some moves to go get some guys. That was good. I still feel like I should have bene out there in that month.
“I watched some film and tried to help the guys. It was very tough. I’ve never been hurt during the season. To miss a whole month, it took a lot of discipline to not lose focus.”
When Roby was leaving the Broncos, he had plenty of options despite an up-and-down final season in Denver as a full-time starter.
He had a three-year, $30 million offer from Pittsburgh and a one-year, $9 million offer from San Francisco. He also drew interest from Cleveland.
Roby left with no hard feelings toward the team that drafted him 31st in 2014.
“Just a blessing is the word I would use,” Roby said. “I’m so thankful for that organization to pick me and give me an opportunity to realize my dream and be able to provide for my family. We also won a Super Bowl there, so I will always have great and beautiful memories from playing for Denver. I’m very appreciative for the opportunity.”
The Broncos were the team that trusted Roby after he declared early for the NFL draft.
His draft stock dropped due to concerns about off-field issues. That included being charged with physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs on April 22, 2014. Roby was found by officers in Columbus, Ohio, passed out in the front seat of a Dodge Charger. He failed a field sobriety test.
Roby plead guilty to the charge and received a 180-day suspended sentence and was required to pay a $375 fine plus court costs and attend a driver intervention program. The previous year, Roby was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery with the case conditionally dismissed after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and completed a pre-trial diversion program
“They drafted me as a young 21year-old kid with some off-thefield problems, not problems, but situations,” Roby said. “They believed in me and thankfully I’ve been able to get past the things I had been dealing with.
“I’m a great guy, I feel, on and off the field. I appreciate them for everything because a lot of teams passed on me. They still saw something in me. For that, I owe them everything.”
For that background and the fact that the Broncos’ roster has changed significantly and has a new coaching staff led by Fangio, this isn’t really a sentimental experience for Roby.
“It’s going to feel like every other game to me,” Roby said. “We want to build on what we’ve been doing all season. It’s kind of weird. In the NFL, turnover is so crazy. It’s really a whole new team. It’s the same organization, but different in a way.”
Roby’s singular focus at the moment is on winning an AFC South division title and getting into the playoffs. Questions about his future can wait until the offseason, when he’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent again. Right now, he’s just glad to be healthy again and playing well.
“It feels good just to come back and not have any setbacks with my injury,” Roby said. “I’m kind of past that now. It feels good to be making plays on the field and get back to doing what I do best. It’s just a bonus on top of that to be able to play against the team I played for last year and the past five years of my career. It’s motivating for sure.”