Texans’ top blocking priority against Chiefs star Chris Jones: ‘Make sure you know where 95 is at all times’

HOUSTON – He won’t be hard to find.

Kansas City Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris “Stone Cold” Jones is a dominant force at the line of scrimmage, wrecking games with his ultra-rare combination of size, speed, strength, power and moves.

Wherever he lines up, whether that’s as a traditional interior presence or on the edge, Jones represents a problem for opposing offenses.

And Jones, the Chiefs’ $158 million man, has the Texans’ full attention heading into Saturday’s road game against the defending Super Bowl champions at Arrowhead Stadium..

At 6-foot-6, 310 pounds with 34 1/2 inch arms and 10 3/4 hands, Jones has length and heavyweight muscle working in his favor against a Texans offensive line vulnerable to top pass rushers and girthy defensive tackles. Jones has 80 1/2 career sacks, including a pair of 15 1/2 sacks seasons under his belt, 10 1/2 sacks last year and five sacks this season. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has already been sacked 45 times this season, but pass protection has stabilized over the past few games.

“Make sure you know where ‘95′ is at all times,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said when asked how the AFC South champions will handle this extremely tough blocking assignment. “Chris is an outstanding player, size, strength, pass rusher ability. Not only inside, he lines up outside, can get in on the edge as well, does a great job of batting passes down. He just totally impacts the game for them, and you see why he has been a dominant defensive tackle in this league.

“His pure will, strength, everything about him, he is just a great player. For us, you have to have awareness where ‘95′ is. No one can fall asleep on ‘95. You have to make sure you are aware. You have to go challenge him and you have to go compete. That is what this game is about and that is what I am most excited about. They have really good players. Let’s put the ball down, compete and see what happens.”

The Texans showed some vulnerability for stunts and interior rush last week as Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Seiler busted into the backfield for 1 1/2 sacks while defensive end Chop Robinson had 1 1/2 sacks and four quarterback hits.

Although Jones hasn’t gotten home as far as finishing his rushes at nearly the same pass rush win rate as previous seasons, that doesn’t make him any less dangerous.

He has five sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 10 tackles for losses. He has inflicted most of his damage outside with five sacks and a 14.1 pressure rate off the edge with zero sacks and a 10.7 pressure rate while lined up inside this season.

“We’ve got to lock him down,” Texans left offensive guard Tytus Howard said. “Good player, but I’m confident in what I can do. I’m confident in what I have.”

Stroud was sacked just 38 times last season in 15 games.

Jones is firmly on the Texans’ radar for this high-profile matchup in the trenches.

“His ability to get off the ball, they use their silent cadence really well, able to hide it,” Stroud said of Jones. And he does a good job of using his hands. And I’m a big fan of his. He does a great job and has been doing it at a high level for a long time. And just pops out on film and makes a lot of plays for them. Even when he doesn’t make the play, he’s taking on double-teams, giving other guys one-on-ones and things like that. So, yeah, he does things like that.”

And the Chiefs have plenty of good pass rushers, including George Karlaftsis (seven sacks), Travelle Wharton (five 1/2 sacks), Mike Danna and former Texans and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Charles Omenihu, who has made a healthy return from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and is starting to find his stride again as a disruptive presence.

“All those guys, Charles is one of the best pass rushers in the league,” Howard said. “Those guys are coached well to do what they do, so it’s a good defense.”

And, no matter what, the Texans plan to keep a lot of eyes and hands assigned to containing No. 95.

“A lot of people have tried a lot of different things,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said. “Not just this season but really all of last season on tape to see different approaches that people have taken. Honestly, none of them have worked. He is that good. At the end of the day for us, we have some schematic things we are going to try to do to help us out and make sure we are aware of where ‘95′ is all the time, and we are taking care of ‘95′ all the time.

“Even then, they did a great job of moving him around, putting him in different spots, he lines all over the front, sometimes not even at the line of scrimmage. He is everywhere. Eventually, they are going to isolate him one on one whether it is the run or pass game. For us, at the end of the day it is just how much are we going to strain and how much are we going to finish, which is going to be the message all the way through the rest of the season.”

NOTES: Texans running back Joe Mixon practiced for the second day in a row. He was listed as limited on the injury report with an ankle injury one day after being listed as limited for rest. Mixon has emphasized he plans to play and there are no concerns about his availability. Whether he’ll be at full strength appears to be unlikely, though.

Texans wide receiver John Metchie III missed his second practice in a row with a shoulder injury.

Tight end Cade Stover is recovering well from an emergency appendectomy and is expected to miss the Chiefs game and a Christmas Day game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Offensive guard Juice Scruggs remains out with a foot injury that’s expected to keep him out this week and, likely, next week against Baltimore.

Defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi remains sidelined with an ankle injury.

Texans offensive guard Kenyon Green, activated from injured reserve, participated fully. He has made a full recovery from a shoulder injury.

Backup quarterback Davis Mills returned to practice from an illness and participated fully.

Reserve linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips returned to practice from a foot injury and was limited.

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