Lovie Smith couldn’t hold back his excitement when asked about defensive lineman Jerry Hughes in the Houston Texans’ Monday press conference following the veteran pass rusher’s outstanding performance against the New York Giants in Week 10. He went in-depth on how the team got Hughes to Houston in the offseason, and what the coaching staff saw that made his pursuit a top priority.
“We liked him a lot,” Smith said of bringing the veteran in during the offseason. “This is Jerry’s third team that he’s been on, and he’s played quite a few years. Again, we liked everything about him, not just him, meaning him the person, but his play on video. Jacques Cesaire, our defensive line coach that worked with him his last stop [with the Buffalo Bills], all those things said we want him here.
“It’s always good to bring a local guy back home, all those things. His play has been outstanding every game. There’s a certain level of play, he’s not going to make every tackle, every play, but he’s going to be someone that teams have to take notice of. We have a lot of young players playing. They need to see guys like Jerry Hughes that are just nonstop, every snap. We’d be undefeated if everybody was playing, if we’re all doing our job as well as Jerry is doing his.”
Hughes has become a leader on the Texans’ defense and is having a career season in his first year with the team. He is tied with Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons and the Buffalo Bills’ star pass rusher Von Miller for sixth place on the NFL’s leaderboard for sacks this season with eight and seems to be ramping up his production with each passing week.
While the team may not be enjoying as much success on the whole as Hughes is personally, his contributions have ensured that opposing offenses aren’t having an easy time dealing with Houston’s defense when he is on the field. If nothing else, Hughes is serving as the most exciting player on a team that is otherwise un-watchable most weeks, and that service is enough to make him a legend in the mind of most Houston fans who just want to see consistent effort from the Texans as they head into an arduous rebuild in 2023.
