HOUSTON – When the Texans first acquired offensive guard Kendrick Green in a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick, the idea was to have him ultimately compete for a starting job.
One year later, Green is a starter again Wednesday against the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas at NRG Stadium due to multiple injuries across the interior offensive line.
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Veteran right guard Shaq Mason suffered a Grade 2 sprained medial collateral ligament sprain in his knee and is out three to four weeks, per league sources. Meanwhile, left offensive guard Juice Scruggs remains out with a foot injury. Both will miss the game against the Ravens with Tytus Howard starting his third game in a row at left guard and Green stepping in as the replacement for Mason.
Green was inserted into the game Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs in a road loss for the AFC South division winners. He graded out as the highest ranked run blocker for the Texans, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked him the lowest in pass blocking analytics.
“I’m excited, good opportunity for me,” Green told KPRC 2. “I’m ready to go play, clean some things up and play even better than I did last week.”
Green was off to an encouraging start with the Texans last season, starting three of the first four games of the season.
That was before the former third-round draft pick from Illinois tore his meniscus in his right knee. Green didn’t allow any sacks in 208 snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus analytics.
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound native of Peoria, Illinois has started 18 of 34 career games in three NFL seasons.
He has played in 15 games this season with no starts and has appeared in 121 offensive snaps, 12 percent of the total playing time on offense.
“Lost another starter there in Shaq, so that hurts us,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I thought Kendrick stepped in and did a really nice job. Our line, overall, did a really nice job all day of really competing, playing hard, physical. I really like what they did and we’ll see how the unit continues to progress.”
The Texans face a difficult challenge against a Ravens defense headlined by All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith and a stout defensive line anchored by 6-foot-4, 338-pound nose tackle Travis Jones, defensive end Nnamdi Madubuike and heavyweight backup Michael Pierce, who’s built low to the ground at 6-foot, 355 pounds.
Smith plays an aggressive, instinctive style of football and is a sideline-to-sideline, three-down defender.
“Definitely, a great player, very active, fast, plays hard, jumps off the tape,” Green said. “I’m looking forward to playing against this defense and a really good player. Stout guys, definitely playing very well. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
The Texans need to crank up the running game and play December football.
“Every week, I think it’s big to run the ball, you want to impose your will early, especially in December,” Green said. “That’s something we’ve been preaching lately: ‘We have to run the football.’”
It’s been an emotional week for the Texans with the losses of wide receiver Tank Dell and nickel Jimmie Ward to season-ending injuries.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those guys,” Green said. “We’ve got to rally together and try to win for those guys and get a W on Christmas.”
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Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
