HOUSTON – Kenyon Green is on notice. His blocking must improve, particularly in pass protection, or he will be headed to the bench again.
There will be no immediate changing of the guard as far as the Texans’ starting lineup remaining unchanged Thursday night for a road game against the New York Jets. Green will get another chance to upgrade his performance and will start his ninth game of the season at left guard after the Texans contemplated making a switch to Kendrick Green this week, according to league sources.
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Instead of replacing Kenyon Green, the Texans are indeed playing him again after he allowed seven pressures, one sack, two quarterback hits and had a season-low 21.9 pass blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus analytics, and was benched and replaced by Jarrett Patterson before being reinserted into the game when Patterson suffered a concussion when his helmet collided with Indianapolis Colts linebacker E.J. Speed’s knee Sunday in a 23-20 win at NRG Stadium. Green, a fomer first-round draft pick from Texas A&M and a one-time blue-chip recruit from Atascosita High School, went back into the game and eventually his play stabilized in the second half after some words of encouragement from offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
Green had a rough game against the Green Bay Packers, as did center Juice Scruggs. Green had a 29.0 pass blocking grade and allowed one sack, three pressures and two hurries.
Green got into much better shape this offseason after missing his entire second season with a torn labrum. He’s down to 315 pounds, losing roughly 30 pounds. However, he’s still having fundamental blocking issues and his play has declined since arguably the best performance of his career in the season-opener against the Colts when he regularly pancaked defenders and allowed zero pressures or sacks and had a 74.4 pass blocking grade.
For the season, Green has allowed a league-high 33 pressures among all offensive guards. He has yielded five sacks. It hasn’t been the performance the Texans envisioned from him.
Should Green struggle against a Jets defensive line headlined by disruptive defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (3 1/2 sacks) and defensive end Will McDonald IV (eight sacks), they can always pull him and insert Green.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans is taking a positive approach to the Green issue, encouraging him to play better and emphasizing that a 6-2 squad has won with him in the lineup.
“Kenyon has done fine,” Ryans said Tuesday. “Like I said, he had some bad plays. A lot of guys had some bad plays, and everybody is asking about Kenyon and nobody feels worse about this than Kenyon. He knows he has to play better, he will play better and let’s go to work. That is what it is about. It is not about everybody trying to figure out if Kenyon is out. When Kenyon is ready, he will be ready to roll and we won six games with Kenyon and we have to keep going.”
“For me, I go back and I go to the film. You go to the film and you show players what they have done well and the good reps that they have had and just get back to doing that. Kenyon has had a lot of good reps for us, and I expect him to have some good reps for us this Thursday.”
#Texans guard Kenyon Green @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/zV9RHEBBy2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 27, 2024
Pressure is affecting the Texans’ passing game. Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud is succeeding despite the pass blocking breakdowns. Sacked 22 times this season, he has passed for 1,948 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.
He was sacked twice and hit nine times against the Colts.
He passed for a career-low 86 yards with 55 net yards because of sacks against the Packers as stunts and blitzes confused the Texans’ offensive line. He was pressured 57.5 percent of the time on his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats, against the Colts.
What would he say to Green to get the best out of him?
“I mean, there’s a ton of things you can say,” Stroud said. “I think Kenyon, he’s the hardest on himself, which is a good thing. I believe he’ll continue to get better and better, and I believe that he still is a great football player, in my eyes and he’ll get better and better, because he’s still really young. He missed all of last year, he’s still finding his rhythm. So, I’m really excited to see him elevate his game this week.”
Green, 23, has been accountable for his shortcomings on the field, staying at his locker to discuss the game and answer questions.
“I wasn’t playing well,” Green said. “So, they had to make changes. It’s football. You got ups and downs, so just continue to keep going, keep pushing.
How will Green solidify his position: “Do my job. That’s what I need to do.”
Texans general manager Nick Caserio has invested heavily in the offensive line, including a three-year, $75 million deal for Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, the highest graded pass blocker from the Green Bay setback, $56 million for right tackle Tytus Howard and $36 million for right guard Shaq Mason, a first-round pick for Green and a second-round selection for center Juice Scruggs.
Green has arrived at a crossroads in his career. This was supposed to be his bounce-back season. The Texans opted for Green with the 15th overall pick instead of other available players that have gotten off to fast starts in the NFL, including Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Lindenbaum and safety Kyle Hamilton.
Green had a lengthy conversation with Slowik during which he received encouragement to keep pushing: “Just telling me to keep being me, just keep getting better and just keep fighting.”
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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
