NFL: Cravens come back in Denver Broncos after 2-year absence

Cravens, who was traded to the Broncos in March, was moved to the active roster Friday and will play when Denver hosts the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The Denver Broncos are giving safety Su'a Cravens an opportunity to play in his first NFL regular-season game in almost two seasons.

Cravens, who was traded to the Broncos in March, was moved to the active roster Friday and will play when Denver hosts the Houston Texans on Sunday. On injured reserve since the end of the preseason because of a knee injury, Cravens has not appeared in a regular-season game since he played as a Washington Redskins rookie against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 11, 2016. He made one tackle.

"It's been a year and a half overdue now," Cravens said. "I was ready to play Week 1, then an injury comes. I had a torn meniscus the whole time, not even knowing. It's all been a part of God's plans. It's my time now, so take advantage of it."

Earlier this week, Cravens, who missed the entire 2017 season with post-concussion syndrome, said, "I'm going to try to blast somebody. I've got to. It's been eight weeks, so I've got some built-up frustration."

Cravens, who has experienced other knee and elbow injuries during his career, was acquired from the Redskins for two draft picks in the 2018 draft and a conditional pick in the 2020 draft. He has practised the past two weeks without any problems.

"I've been here every day," Cravens said. "It hasn't been a vacation for me. I haven't been home in California or anything. If I wasn't rehabilitating, I was in the defensive meetings and learning everything. I've been doing the exact same schedule besides playing. I'm glad that I'm getting rewarded with playing now. I'm looking forward to that."

He is expected to get a lot of action covering tight ends when the Broncos utilize their dime package -- six defensive backs -- Sunday against the Texans.

"His body type and skill set as a dime 'backer is valuable because he can play first, second and third down," Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. "Obviously, if they pass the ball on first, second or third down, he can cover tight ends."

On Sunday, the Broncos will not have the services of three defensive starters -- linebacker Brandon Marshall (knee), cornerback Bradley Roby (ankle) and Darian Stewart (neck/stingers).

Cravens is just happy to finally get a chance to contribute.

"I just feel like we're not making every play that we should make," he said. "We're leaving a lot of plays out there and a lot of our games have come down to one score. Hopefully, I can be the one that comes in and picks up those plays that we're missing on and that's what we need to get this ball rolling."

(With inputs from agencies.)