Texans’ Jerry Hughes fined by NFL uniform police

HOUSTON – Texans veteran defensive end Jerry Hughes has been fined by the NFL uniform police.

Hughes posted a letter from the league on social media, informing him that he has been fined $5,305 for violating the NFL’s strict uniform policy.

The Sugar Land Native and Fort Bend Austin graduate was told his pants “failed to cover the knee area,” with uniform pants required to be “worn over the entire knee area, pants shortened or rolled up are prohibited.”

Hughes wrote on social media: ‘out here fighting for a W!! But y’all want me to focus on how my pants are riding up. $5K” with an angry cursing emoji.

Hughes, signed by the Texans this spring, had an excellent debut in a 20-20 tie versus the Indianapolis Colts, recording two sacks and an interception.

Hughes’ interception led to a touchdown Sunday.

And Hughes was thinking big after the turnover, hoping for a touchdown, if not a longer return, but he got tackled by Colts quarterback Matt Ryan after a 14-yard return.

“Just a lot of green field,” Hughes said. “I wasn’t sure how close Taylor was to me, so I felt like if I could kind of get Matt to kind of open his hips and run the opposite way, I should have a lot of green grass to score. But I guess he made a tackle, and that doesn’t really happen too often on d-linemen, so I’ve got to be better.”

It was a strong debut for Hughes, who grew up in Sugar Land and was a standout running back at Fort Bend Austin before starting at TCU and being drafted in the first-round by the Colts. The 34-year-old had a sack and forced fumble on Ryan in the second quarter. He’s the third player in Texans franchise history to record an interception, a forced fumble and a sack in the same game after Dunta Robinson in 2004 and DeMeco Ryans in 2006, and the first player to do so all in the same half.

“What do we like about Jerry? I would say everything,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said recently. “This guy has been a rock star since the day he arrived. When you see a player from afar, you really don’t know exactly sort of what makes him tick. He was a pain in the ass for us in New England, I would say almost more in the running game than he was as a pass rusher because of his ability to rip inside and be disruptive, kind of split double teams. He was hard to block, and he was always out there.

“There’s a reason why he’s made it this far. He’s very diligent. He’s very professional. He has good leadership. Players respect him. He can still perform I would say at a pretty good level. I mean, that’s the most important thing, because it’s about production. Jerry has done a great job., Jerry has been awesome to work with, he really has.”