The big boy is back.
After missing a week and some change, first-round pick Kenyon Green has returned to the field today and practiced for the Houston Texans. The former Texas A&M offensive lineman had surgery completed on his knee, following his final collegiate season.
With head coach Lovie Smith failing to provide clarity on Green’s injury, fans had worried that Green’s absence from practices meant a setback occurred with his knee.
Luckily, that was not the case. Smith shared with SiriusXM NFL Radio that Green reportedly had been held out because of a concussion. While an injury to the head poses its own issues, it is encouraging that Green did not endure a season-ending injury and is getting back to work.
On Wednesday reporters asked Smith to provide more details on how Green suffered the concussion. Houston’s head coach revealed part of their injury process and how they’ve been patient with Green, prioritizing his long-term health.
“It wasn’t a big blow or anything like that,” Smith said. “The game of football, there’s no way we can eliminate concussions in our game, but you stay out, and eventually you get back clear. We’ve really taken our time with him. We make sure a guy is really ready to go, where there’s no symptoms before we put him on the football field, and that’s how we took it with him.”
During his first practice back, Green was eased into the action with the second team, as Max Scharping played with the ones. As practice continued, the Texans ramped up Green’s workload and slotted him with the starters, next to Pro-Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
A left-side duo of Tunsil and Green theoretically projects to be a strong fit on the field. Tunsil is known for being an elite pass protector, whereas Green’s biggest strength is his brute strength as a run blocker.
Houston will heavily depend on Green to improve their league-worst rushing offense from 2021. Per Football Outsiders, the Texans offensive line ranked 32nd in adjusted line yards — a stat that measures how much yardage the offensive line blocks and creates for their running back.
Furthermore, Houston was also 32nd in second level yards — measured by the number of runs that gained 5-10 yards — 32nd in open field yards — measured by the number of runs that gained 10-plus yards — and 24th in stuffed runs — measured by the percentage of runs where the RB was tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage.
The Texans run blocking last season put their running backs in disadvantageous scenarios, but as general manager Nick Caserio utilized the 15th overall pick on Green, he hopes to remedy that.
Ensuring the rookie gets enough snaps to get up to speed and make the mental and physical transition to the NFL will be important for his development. Smith was non-committal about Green’s game status for the next preseason game vs the Los Angeles Rams, but believes he’s right on track.
“Eventually we’ll get him out there,” Smith said. “The biggest thing was to get him back into the mix. He missed a couple weeks, so we’ll gradually get him back into the full-time mix, but no issues, right on track. We’ll see how it goes.”
Smith understands that Green is a building block for Houston and wants to ensure a more major injury is not suffered if they were to rush him back or throw him into the fire.
Said Smith: “Kenyon missed some time, but we have two more preseason games. As long as we get a player some action before, they’ve had a lot of practices, so it’s not like we’re just throwing him out there, cold turkey. We kind of like the way he’s going.”
The focus is on the future in Houston. Green will get his opportunity to show why he was a top pick in the 2022 NFL draft, it’s just unclear when exactly that may be. Nonetheless, Green’s potential is alluring and living up to his high-billing will do wonders for the Texans offense.