How Texans defensive end Jonathan Greenard hit career milestone with 10 sacks for the season: ‘It’s pretty cool’

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Jonathan Greenard bolted out of his three-point stance with so much power and explosiveness that he left massive New York Jets left offensive tackle Mekhi Becton flat-footed.

Greenard put the 6-foot-7, 363-pound former first-round draft pick in reverse as his inside swim move turned his shoulder pads around. The slick pass rushing move made Jets quarterback Zach Wilson vulnerable, a proverbial sitting duck as Greenard busted into the backfield and brought him down for behind.

It was one of Greenard’s pair of sacks for the game as the veteran defensive end became the first Texans player to record double-digit sacks since J.J. Watt in 2018. Greenard hit a career milestone with his 10th sack of the year, his third game of the season with multiple sacks.

“It’s pretty cool,” Greenard said. “That’s a goal I had for myself this offseason, just to get to that double digits. Blessed, man. It’s exciting. Definitely as far as milestones I wanted to hit for my career, it was good.”

Greenard was one of the few bright spots for the Texans’ defense during a 30-6 defeat as Wilson passed for 301 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Another impressive performance like this one, though, sets Greenard up for a major payday as an unrestricted free agent after this season. Greenard has put it all together this season, setting himself apart as one of the top pass rushers in the league. Greenard has recorded 46 tackles, 14 tackles for losses and 19 quarterback hits. He has started every game, remained healthy and played 581 defensive snaps, for 67 percent of the playing time.

The move on Becton was effective.

“It definitely was a good one,” Greenard said. “He’s a bigger guy. Very, very powerful kid, I wanted to get his feet moving. It’s one of the moves I’ve been accustomed to doing in the past. It felt natural. Glad it worked. I hit him in the buttocks area first and then slid down, so no penalty.”

Greenard uses a traditional routine of visualization; the mental technique of seeing and communicating concrete ideas since the start of humanity.

For Greenard, that means lots of deep thinking the night before games, going through his pass rushing moves in his head or even at home in his conversations with his fiancée.

“Yes, I do, 1,000 percent,” Greenard told KPRC 2 when asked about his use of visualization techniques. “The night before or in practices or a couple nights before I’ll even say it to my lady, my fiancée: ‘I’m about to do this, I’m thinking about doing this.’ Just how I want to attack people. Visualization is the best thing because, if you don’t envision yourself doing it, you won’t know what to do when you get there. I’m just a big proponent and advocate of doing that going into the games.”

The importance of what Greenard is doing on the field has been heightened with his family responsibilities he proudly embraces. He’s the doting new father of a baby girl and engaged to be married.

And the growing family coincides with the former third-round draft pick from the University of Florida being in the final year of his four-year, $4.48 million rookie contract. And Greenard’s timing for his best all-around season is ideal.

Greenard leads the Texans in sacks, with two more than his previous career-high eight sacks he recorded in 2021. Pending free agency isn’t consuming Greenard. If anything, he’s embracing that process and concentrating on working at his craft: chasing down quarterbacks and being a stout run-stopper.

“I think that’s the biggest key is I knew going into it,” Greenard said. “I’m not oblivious to what’s going on in the outside world. Obviously, I’m in a contract year. I knew I was about to have a child at the time. I just had to understand that, ‘Hey, it has to go right. My feeling is, ‘Who’s going to provide for her?’

“I went about that in that mindset that somebody has to do it. The main thing is the only way I could go was up. Don’t worry about next year or things of that sort. It will happen if it’s going to happen. It’s not for me to decide. I can only control what I can control.”

Greenard approaches football and life in perspective. There are a lot of important things happening, especially being a girl dad. And he intends to maximize this prime opportunity. Whether he cashes in with the Texans or with another NFL team, he’s cementing a bright present and future.

The way that Greenard is performing is setting himself apart as the most consistently disruptive pass rusher on a Texans defense built around coach DeMeco Ryans’ vision of creating pressure primarily with a four-man front and not blitzing frequently.

Fast and smooth in his moves, Greenard is getting home with a versatile repertoire of pass rushing moves. What he’s doing is working.

“Jonathan has had a productive year,” Ryans said. “He’s done some good things for us this year, and continue to have some things he can clean up to help us to play better. When all the guys up front are rushing together, everybody has success. When everybody is rushing together, nobody is playing selfishly. Everybody rushes together, as we say with the defensive line room, everybody eats. So, continue to do that and we’ll continue to see the success from those guys.”

And the successful outcomes, hitting quarterbacks, tackling running backs in the backfield for losses, are a direct byproduct of his consistency and work habits.

“I would highlight JG again as sort of the poster child for that,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “When he’s getting off the ball, I would say, is JG’s biggest thing. Like when he’s launching and covering ground out of his stance, he sort of plays on his terms. He’s an explosive player.

“So, when he gets out, he’s like forcing linemen to make decisions earlier and he can get into the rush earlier. When he stutters at the line of scrimmage, or he’s not quite as threatening, maybe he doesn’t look the same. For him to go through that process and realize when the success is coming for him, when he plays with his length and when he’s explosive, he’s a pretty impactful player. The consistency for him to do that play in and play out, I feel like he’s been trending through the whole season to this point, and hopefully he keeps growing.”

For Greenard, the opponent changes every weekend. Yet, his style doesn’t. He’s a finisher who maintains high energy from the snap to the whistle.

“I think it’s just connecting, honestly,” Greenard said. “Some games, it’s good. Some games, it’s better than others. We work these moves all the time. It’s just a matter of continuing to work and trust that they’re eventually going to work. I just had a good day, I continue to work. The thing about the league is who cares about what happened last week. We have to get to next week. I’m excited, though.”

Reflecting on it all, his upcoming wedding, the contract status and his season, Greenard is maintaining his focus. And he’s doing it all with an eye on physical and mental fitness.

Maturity and being present in all situations, that’s what Greenard is all about.

“Exactly, what it is,” Greenard said. “I know coming home from this, I can’t bring work home. I can’t bring the uncertainty home. I have to put that to the side and say, ‘Hey, look all I can control is my effort and my play on the field.’ Whatever happens outside of that isn’t for me to control.”

Greenard is well aware how lucrative rushing the passer can be.

On the open market, Greenard could potentially command an annual average per year, based on metrics, anywhere from a low of $12 million a year to perhaps the $17 million to $18 million range.

The highest ranked edge rusher contracts as far as average per year range from the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa ($34 million), the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt ($28 million), the Los Angeles Chargers’ Joey Bosa ($27 million,), the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett ($25 million), the Green Bay Packers’ Rashan Gary ($24 million), the Los Angeles Chargers’ Khalil Mack ($23.5 million), the Las Vegas Raiders’ Maxx Crosby ($23.5 million), the Miami Dolphins’ Bradley Chubb ($22 million), the Cincinnati Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson ($21 million), the Buffalo Bills’ Von Miller ($20 million), the Tennessee Titans’ Harold Landry ($17.5 million), the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Alex Highsmith ($17 million), the Minnesota Vikings’ Danielle Hunter ($17 million), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Shaquil Barrett ($17 million), the Dolphins’ Emmanuel Ogbah ($16.35 million), the Seattle Seahawks’ Uchenna Nwosu ($15 million), the Philadelphia Eagles’ Haason Reddick ($15 million), the 49ers’ Randy Gregory ($13.9 million), the New York Jets’ John Franklin-Myers ( $13.75 million) and five players making at least $13 million annually: Carl Granderson, Preston Smith, Josh Sweat, Cameron Jordan and DeMarcus Lawrence.

Bottom line: Pass rushers get paid. Greenard is well on his way to achieving a life and career goal of generational wealth.

“100 percent, you get to the quarterback, they’ll figure something out,” Greenard said. “I’m going to keep playing ball. I’m happy now. I’m in a good groove, mentally and physically.”

It’s a winning approach for Greenard as he’s been impressive after maintaining a spartan training regimen all summer with his private trainer, Christian “Speedy” Ford, reporting at a lean 250 to 255 pounds, down from his listed 263 pounds on the roster. His body-fat percentage is a lean 12 percent, the lowest of his career.

“I’ve been through dang near every single thing I can think of to go through,” Greenard said. “You just keep a level head and not get too high or too low. This whole game is about ups and downs. You can be high one moment, so you can’t get too high where you don’t understand how to handle the lows. I love that about the game because it’s an exciting game. I steadily grow as a player and as a human because you can’t play this forever and it leads to better habits off the field.”

Greenard was drafted in the third round by the Texans by former coach and general manager Bill O’Brien after recording 9 1/2 sacks, 15 1/2 tackles for losses and three forced fumbles and one interception in his final season for the Gators.

Ideally, Greenard will remain in a Texans uniform for a long time. That’s his stated preference.

“Shoot, that’s the goal,” he said. “That’s the reason why I play this game, so I can continue to play ball. Hopefully, it’s here. Ultimately, that’s not up for me to decide. I just control my play.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.