Lovie Smith Shares Expectations For Texans DL Jonathan Greenard

Despite an injury-prone sophomore season, Houston Texans coach Lovie Smith has high expectations for defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard.

HOUSTON — Jonathan Greenard was a force on the defensive line during the 2021 campaign. In his second year playing for the Houston Texans, he led the team in sacks with a career-best eight on the year.

Greenard would have finished the year with more sacks. But an in-season battle with COVID and nagging injuries limited the third-year defensive lineman to a dozen games.

Health appears to be the lone obstacle preventing Greenard from becoming one of the NFL's most prominent pass rushers. But coach Lovie Smith refuses to lower his expectations for Greenard regardless of his durability.

"Jonathan [Greenard] is a legitimate outside defensive end in the league," Smith said. "I'm anxious to see how far he can go. Being banged up and missing a lot of the offseason work put him behind a little bit, but you see we'll continue to give him more and more reps. He’s a big part of what we're going to do this year."

Greenard made his first appearance during training camp practice on Saturday, where he participated in a few team scrimmages.

Day 2 of training camp marked one of the few occasions he participated in the Texans' on-field activities. Before the start of camp, Greenard had a lite workout program where he spent most of the previous several months recuperating from a foot injury that required surgery.

"This is a big year for Jonathan Greenard," Smith said. "He is healthy now. In order for us to have success, I talk about playing better defense, it starts with our defensive line." 

The Texans held Greenard out for Day 1 of training camp due to his positioning on Houston's ramp-up plan. Greenard's monitored play count during practice for a player coming off a significant injury is similar to Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamu Grugier-Hill. 

Smith is enamored by the sack numbers Greenard accumulated in limited play. His contributions to Houston's defensive line went beyond his sacks, as Greenard notched 33 tackles, 12 quarterback hits and a pair of force fumbles. 

Per Pro Football Focus, Greenard finished last season as the Texans' highest-rated pass rusher with a grade of 89.2.