Entering his 13th NFL season, defensive end Jerry Hughes has returned to his hometown to lead a young Houston Texans defensive line.
A graduate of Stephen F. Austin High School, Hughes went on to study at TCU before being drafted 31st overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 2010. After three years in Indianapolis and nine with the Buffalo Bills, Hughes is now back where it all began and reinvigorated by his familiar surroundings, and ready to "hunt."
"It feels great," Hughes said. "I feel like I'm back in high school, just being able to be in the city, driving around, we used to play high school games at the Astrodome so [I'm] very familiar with coming out this way."
The 33-year-old, who has 58 sacks in 184 appearances, said that he was drawn to the idea of joining Houston after talking to former teammate and fellow Texan Mario Addison, who signed shortly before he did. The prospect of playing in coach Lovie Smith's scheme was "something that I wanted to be a part of," he said, with the fact it would allow him to be closer to his family and friends the "icing on the cake."
Now signed to a two-year $10 million deal, Hughes aims to bring leadership and a "shark mentality to this team."
"We've got a very young defensive line, so especially myself as well as Mario Addison, we try to really emphasize having that alpha male mentality up front," Hughes said.
Hughes said that he wants the line to "dictate what the offense is going to do" and not just settle for "being in our gaps."
"We want to be able to go out there and make plays, be around the ball, causing turnovers - we understand the importance of the ball, coach Smith talks about it every day during team meetings," Hughes said.
"So, for us it's just about being that game-changer, being that force on the field, I feel like that's something that my game is really been about my whole 12 years throughout the league and so we're just trying to show those guys that we can be the difference-maker on every down. If the offense is out there and we've got four guys on the field, let's just go out there and let's hunt."
Last season, Houston's defense allowed the second-most rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and total yards in the league. They also had the sixth-fewest sacks, fourth-fewest pressures, and fifth-most missed tackles.
Smith and co. will be hoping that with veterans like Hughes and Addison in the mix, they can get this defense hunting.
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