HOUSTON – The Texans’ starting left guard position belongs to rookie Kenyon Green.
In the second game of his professional career, the first-round draft pick from Texas A&M and former Atascosita High School blue-chip recruit started his first NFL game on Sunday against the Denver Broncos as he replaced veteran Justin McCray.
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Green played every snap for the Texans who fell short in a 16-9 road defeat.
“I feel like I can do better,” Green said. “Little details, just trying to get better with that.”
Texans coach Lovie Smith was encouraged by how Green performed in his first NFL start. Green played every offensive snap.
“It seems like every time I’ve talked about some of the flash plays that he’s made,” Smith said. “We’ve seen signs, but I thought, gave him the reigns, start, go with it. I thought he was physical. He did some good things in pass protection. He was having fun doing it. After the game, we already talked about what he needs to improve upon. He’s going to help us win a lot of games. He’s one of our guys. He’s a good football player. Excited about the growth he’s going to make. He’s going to be better this week than he was (Sunday).”
The outcome was a disappointment. Green, a former consensus All-American and All-Southeastern Conference selection for the Aggies, isn’t accustomed to losing.
He acknowledged it was frustrating,
“Yeah it was, just trying to go out there and execute and finish the game,” he said. “It’s back to the drawing board.”
Green provided some push in the middle as rookie running back Dameon Pierce rushed for 69 yards on 15 carries and the Texans averaged 4.4 yards per run overall.
“Oh yeah, we were driving them off the ball, getting great yards, and DP breaking it,” Green said. “Hard-nosed running, smart player, just an all-around great player, good person.”
Aaron Wilson is a Pro Football Network reporter and a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com