Crosby, Wilkins give the Raiders one of the NFL's more talented defensive lines

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Crosby, Wilkins give the Raiders one of the NFL's more talented defensive lines

2024-07-27 07:17 Last Updated At：07:21

COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Raiders do run seven-on-seven drills in training camp, but coach Antonio Pierce has made it known he prefers all 11 on each side going against each other.

And when the Raiders have put their front four on the practice field this week with the rest of the starters, the increase in intensity has been clear with Maxx Crosby coming off the edge and Christian Wilkins up the middle.

Quarterbacks Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew, who are competing for the starting job, are being forced to make quick decisions and their passes often wind up on the ground or in a defender's hands.

“The d-line getting back there in three seconds, that's hard to beat,” cornerback Jack Jones said. “It's like at times we won't even have to cover. Them guys are going to go eat."

Pro Football Focus ranks Las Vegas' defensive line ninth, noting the offseason signing of Wilkins finally gives Crosby a running mate on his level.

Wilkins spent the previous five seasons with the Miami Dolphins, overcoming early criticism that the 13th overall pick of the 2019 draft was underperforming expectations. He developed into one of the league's top interior pass rushers — making nine sacks last season — to buttress a reputation as an elite run stopper.

The Raiders also get a player whose motor runs about as hard as Crosby's.

“While I'm trying to leave my legacy and do the best I can, it's also help guys reach their goals,” Wilkins said. “That's the most important thing. I feel like that's how you're going to judge my career and legacy, not Pro Bowls, sacks, any of that. It's my teammates and what they say about me.”

Behind Wilkins is Adam Butler, who played in all 17 games last season, totaling eight tackles for loss and five sacks. John Jenkins, who made a career-high 61 tackles while starting each game, is the expected starter inside next to Wilkins.

Tyree Wilson, the seventh overall draft pick in 2023, began last season at defensive end but then moved inside and his game improved. He made two sacks in his final four games, overcoming a rough start that included not being able to practice until deep into training camp because of a foot injury during his final season at Texas Tech.

Bringing Wilkins into the fold eases some of the pressure on Wilson, but the Raiders at some point want to know such a high draft pick played up to those kind of standards no matter if he's lined up on the edge or inside.

“Tyree, he's got no choice being in our room,” Crosby said. “We've got guys like myself, Christian, Malcolm (Koonce), Adam Butler, John Jenkins, dudes that have done it at a high level for a long time. Tyree is continuing to improve. His attitude is great. He's in better shape. He's been putting in the work, so now it's time to put it on display.”

Koonce, who plays the end opposite of Crosby, is one player who did just that when given the chance last season.

A midseason coaching change also meant an opportunity for Koonce, who recorded all eight of his sacks once Pierce took over. He had two sacks over his first two seasons combined.

Now the question is whether that was a matter of getting hot over a short period of time or if it's a sign of what's to come.

“Success builds confidence," defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said. "How you sustain is through understanding the process in terms of your preparation. I’m very pleased with how he’s prepared for this season and the focus that he’s had and the fact that the leadership’s coming out because you can see the confidence. It’s just radiating off his body.”

No one radiates more confidence than Crosby, who has made it his mission this camp to push right tackle Thayer Munford each time they line up against each other.

Crosby is a two-time second-team All-Pro, leading the league each of the past two seasons in tackles for loss with 22 in 2022 and 23 in '23. He also made a combined 27 sacks over that time.

“My whole motto for this offseason was refine and elevate,” Crosby said. "So refining everything I do across the board from workouts, meal prep, pass rush, run game and find another way to elevate. That's what I've been doing since Jan. 22. We started earlier training this year. We took less time off. Meal prep is even more dialed in. Every day it's finding that 1% of the 1%.

“Like I've said a million times, I want to be the best in the world at what I do and win football games, and that's all that matters.”

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Texas Supreme Court halts execution of man in shaken baby case after lawmakers' last-minute appeal

2024-10-18 11:45 Last Updated At：11:51

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court halted Thursday night’s scheduled execution of a man who would have become the first person in the U.S. put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

The late-night ruling to spare for now the life of Robert Roberson, who was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002, capped a flurry of last-ditch legal challenges and weeks of public pressure from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say he is innocent and was convicted based on flawed evidence.

For hours on Thursday night, Roberson had remained in a prison holding cell a few feet from America's busiest death chamber at the Walls Unit in Hunstville.

"He praised God and thanked supporters,” said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Amanda Hernandez, who spoke with Roberson after the court stayed his execution.

Although Texas' highest court normally does not weigh in on criminal cases, how it got involved in Roberson's case in the final hours underlined the extraordinary maneuvers used by a bipartisan coalition of state House lawmakers who have come to his defense.

Blocked by courts and Texas' parole board in their efforts to spare Roberson's life, legislators on Wednesday took a different route: issuing a subpoena for Roberson to testify before a House committee next week, days after he was scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Less than two hours before Roberson's execution, a judge in Austin granted the lawmakers an order upholding the subpoena, putting the execution on pause. An appeals court then briefly reversed that decision but was overruled by the high court's order.

“We're deeply grateful to the Texas Supreme Court for respecting the role of the Texas legislature in such consequential matters," Democratic Rep. Joe Moody and Republican Rep. Jeff Leach wrote in a joint statement.

Roberson, 57, was convicted of killing of his daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. His lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia.

Gov. Greg Abbott had authority to delay Roberson’s punishment for 30 days. Abbott has halted only one imminent execution in nearly a decade as governor and has not spoken publicly about the case.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution, although Justice Sonia Sotomayor — in a 10-page statement about the case — urged Abbott to grant a 30-day delay.

Roberson’s lawyers had waited to see if Abbott would grant Roberson a one-time 30-day reprieve. It would have been the only action Abbott could take in the case as the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Wednesday denied Roberson’s clemency petition.

The board voted unanimously, 6-0, to not recommend that Roberson’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison or that his execution be delayed. All board members are appointed by the governor. The parole board has recommended clemency in a death row case only six times since the state resumed executions in 1982.

The one time Abbott halted an imminent execution was when he spared the life of Thomas Whitaker in 2018.

The Texas committee on Wednesday held an all-day meeting on Roberson's case. In a surprise move at the end of the hearing, the committee issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify next week.

During its meeting in Austin, the committee heard testimony about Roberson’s case and whether a 2013 law created to allow people in prison to challenge their convictions based on new scientific evidence was ignored in Roberson’s case.

Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, told the committee a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.

“Based on the totality of the evidence, a murder took place here. Mr. Roberson took the life of his almost 3-year-old daughter,” Mitchell said.

Most of the members of the committee are part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers, including at least 30 Republicans, who had asked the parole board and Abbott to stop the execution.

Roberson’s case has renewed debate over shaken baby syndrome, known in the medical community as abusive head trauma.

His lawyers as well as the Texas lawmakers, medical experts and others including bestselling author John Grisham say his conviction was based on faulty and now outdated scientific evidence. The diagnosis refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, like being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.

Roberson’s supporters don’t deny head and other injuries from child abuse are real. But they say doctors misdiagnosed Curtis’ injuries as being related to shaken baby syndrome and that new evidence has shown the girl died from complications related to severe pneumonia.

Roberson’s attorneys say his daughter had fallen out of bed in Roberson’s home after being seriously ill for a week.

Roberson’s lawyers also suggested his autism, then undiagnosed at the time of his daughter’s death, was used against him as authorities became suspicious of him because of his lack of emotion over her death. Autism affects how people communicate and interact with others.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70.