Jerry Hughes is entering his 13th NFL season with his hometown team, but the 33-year-old isn’t letting up.
Hughes continues to go hard in reps when facing dominant starting tackles Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard at Houston Texans training camp.
The former Buffalo Bills defensive end (2013-21) describes the matchups as “intense.”
“We haven’t really been holding anything back,” Hughes told reporters on Aug. 3 after the fifth day of training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center. “The guys said once the pads come on to show out, and I think everybody in our room kind of took that personal, and I think everybody in the offensive line room took it, as well. We don’t want to repeat the season that we had last year, so I think with everybody understanding that, in order for us to win, up front, in the trenches, we’ve got to dominate.”
Hughes believes the Texans have to constantly prove their worth, which means even going hard during the club’s week off.
Said Hughes: “We’ve got to come out here for 18 weeks and prove who we are. Even on the bye week. We’ve got to take care of ourselves, rest up, stay in the film, and I think we’ve got a great group of guys who are understanding how to work and what it takes to actually win in this league.”
Hughes, a former Sugar Land Stephen F. Austin High School and TCU product, generated 2.0 sacks through 17 games with the Bills last season, starting in 16 of them. As the 6-2, 254-pound edge defender finds a role in coach Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2 scheme, which is comparable to what Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier ran in its 4-3 alignment, Hughes is also working to change the culture of the Texans’ defensive line. Giving Tunsil and Howard everything he has is part of the attitude reformation.
