PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was one of the more improbable trades in Steelers history, now the Steelers face Kendrick Green on Sunday as he likely will start for the Texans.
Green was playing fullback to try to find his way onto the Steelers roster this training camp and potentially wouldn’t have been on the active roster long. They held onto him in case a team was desperate for a center who at least has played in the league. That paid off as Houston lost a pair of their centers and the Steelers were able to get a sixth-round pick for him. Ben Roethlisberger’s starting center his final year, didn’t dress one game his second season, it went that poorly.
Over the last two weeks, Green has played 100% of Houston’s offensive snaps.
“It will be interesting, been going up against him the last three years,” said Steelers defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk. “We kind of know what kind of player he is. He knows what kind of players we are. We will see how it goes. It will be interesting.”
“The toughest thing is that he knows everyone on the D-line,” said Steelers nose tackle Montravius Adams. “That’s what he will share with their other offensive linemen-TJ, Alex, Larry (their strengths). I think he will share with his O-line to help them be in place.”
Loudermilk believes it cancels each other out, what he knows about the Steelers personnel and what the Steelers in turn know about Green. He called it another matchup against a former teammate and they’ll watch tape in case he’s picked up anything new.
“At the beginning it will be fun to get to see him,” Adams said. “Once it starts, all the friendships are out the window and it’s about winning. On the D-line, we are trying to get to the quarterback and whoever else got the ball. If Kendrick get in the way, or anybody else, we got to go through him.”
“At the end of the day, the best dog wins. It doesn’t matter what you know, you have to execute.”
Green had an issue executing FOR the Steelers, Sunday for the first time in a game setting, he will try to do it against them.