The Houston Texans’ defense has faced its share of adversity through eight games of their 2022 campaign, but veteran defensive lineman Jerry Hughes has played exceptionally well despite the unit’s inconsistent output. Hughes, who has had a long career in the NFL, seems to have found a consistency in the Texans’ pass rush that has sparked their defense at times this season, and defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire seems intent on keeping his foot to the pedal to get him more sacks in the coming weeks.
Asked about what ignited Hughes’ resurgent pass-rushing ability this year at the team’s press conference on Thursday, Cesaire told reporters that coaching the veteran lineman to finish every play has made all the difference.
“When we brought Jerry (Hughes) on, one thing I noticed about Jerry last year is Jerry won a lot of one-on-one wins,” Cesaire explained. “It was just a finishing part for him. I told him that when he came here. I said, ‘Look, if you do the same thing you did the same thing last year but now just finish, focus on finishing, getting to the quarterback as fast as you can and taking him down, you’ll have a lot more rush production.’ And that’s what he’s done. He’s really focused on that. I’m just really happy for him and what he’s done.”
While Houston has many facets of their game to fix if they intend to get back to serious playoff contention next year, Hughes’ exceptional output this season has been a key part of their defensive strategy that they can easily build upon if he can keep it up. With help from Cesaire, the unit may be able to find other sack-masters to step up when Hughes faces double teams and could prove to the league that the Texans’ defense is not to be seen as an easy target.