Kenyon Green has played 13 games, starting in 12 of them, but his offensive line coach believes the first-rounder can show more improvement in the final two games.
Green has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, but should be good to go against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17 at NRG Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Houston Texans offensive line coach George Warhop likes what he has seen from the Texas A&M product, but sees areas where he still has to develop.
“Kenyon is still a work in progress in my mind,” said Warhop. “He does some really good things, and there’s some things we got to fix. We’re just working those things out.”
Warhop doesn’t compare Green to other young players. Instead Warhop is measuring Green against what the Humble Atascocita High School alumnus is being asked within offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton’s system.
“When you get players, you don’t look at one young player and compare them to the next,” Warhop explained. “My deal is, ‘Hey are you doing it the way we ask? Are you trying to get it done? How are you progressing with that?’ And he’s been doing that.”
Green left Week 14’s 27-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys with an ankle injury. The Texans shuffled right tackle Tytus Howard to left guard and substituted Charlie Heck in place of Howard at right tackle.
Warhop noted Green had challenges in his rookie season going against stellar defensive tackles such as Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen in Week 11 against Washington, who completely dominated the line of scrimmage and shut down Houston’s run game.
Said Warhop: “He was doing really well, kind of hit some hiccups, then he got back on track. That’s just the process with a young guy.”
With Green returning to the lineup, the Texans should be able to move Howard back to right tackle against the Jaguars.
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