Marked man Mercilus on target for another strong season
Linebacker keeping the pressure on opposing offenses
Whitney Mercilus’ quest for sacks has frequently left him mere inches and nanoseconds away from achieving his goal of smashing quarterbacks into the ground.
The ascension of Mercilus into one of the top pass rushers in the NFL over the past two seasons hasn’t been interrupted in the sense that he’s still manhandling blockers and pressuring quarterbacks.
Mercilus has definitely manufactured another strong season following a breakthrough year last season, when he
recorded a career-high dozen sacks. Mercilus, however, has been stuck at 4½ sacks for the past five games since tackling Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck for a loss during the Texans’ overtime win on Oct. 16.
Mercilus has become a marked man with blocking schemes now devoting considerable resources and attentions to try to curtail his impact in the wake of the seasonending back injury suffered by three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt.
“Well, he’s been working really hard,” Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said of Mercilus. “Whitney is such a conscientious guy and he gets frustrated when he doesn’t have the kind of production that he had last year at times, and he wants to be able to make those dynamic plays.
“But the thing that Whitney does is he’s a consistent player.
He gives great effort all the time and he knows what to do, and so that helps us in itself even though sometimes, you know, we’re not getting the sacks that we got last year.”
Mercilus ranks fifth in the NFL with 16½ sacks over the past 22 regularseason games. Only the Oakland Raiders’ Khalil Mack (21 sacks), the Denver Broncos’ Von Miller (20½), the Arizona Cardinals’ Chandler Jones (17) and the Seattle Seahawks’ Cliff Avril (17) have more sacks than Mercilus during that span.
“I’m doing all right,” Mercilus said Friday after practice. “I could do much better, especially in a lot of situations. Missed opportunities, that’s part of the game. You always get another week to keep improving.
“Of course, what player is not conscious of production? All I want to do is do the best that I can and be very disruptive and make impactful plays to help the team win.”
By any reasonable measure, Mercilus has done just that for a 6-5 Texans team that remains in first place in the AFC South division despite losing two consecutive games heading into Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Mercilus recorded a season-high three tackles for losses along with two quarterback hits last Sunday during a 2113 loss to the San Diego Chargers.
For the season, Mercilus has recorded 39 tackles, eight tackles for losses and a team-high 14 quarterback hits, along with two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.
Work ethic admired
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is keenly aware of Mercilus’ presence at the line of scrimmage. Mercilus has an excellent rip move, swim move, speed rush and bull rush in his passrushing repertoire as he works in tandem with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
“I think he’s playing really, really well,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, for whatever reason, he’s not as big a name as Jadeveon. He wasn’t the first pick of the draft, but Whitney’s making a ton of plays. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit over the years. I just appreciate his work ethic and his approach.
“He’s a guy who’s, I think, been a solid player for a number of years. This year, I don’t know if it’s just feeling 100 percent or whatever, but he’s showing up a lot on the tape.”
Mercilus was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week following the Texans’ season opener when he had two sacks against the Chicago Bears. He had a careerhigh five quarterback hits against the Minnesota Vikings.
Mercilus is looking for another big game against an NFC North opponent as he’ll chase Rodgers on Sunday.
“He’s a great, great quarterback,” Mercilus said. “Very mobile, knows how to make all the throws. Very smart, a man I have a lot of respect for.”
A year ago, Mercilus had 50 tackles, 14 tackles for losses, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He ranks third in franchise history with 34½ career sacks.
“He’s had a good year,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “He had a good game last week. We love coaching Whitney. He’s a very hard-working guy, great teammate, does whatever is asked of him. Just a guy that does his job and doesn’t make excuses, just does his job.”
Beyond his role in the Texans’ defense, Mercilus has mentored Clowney. Clowney is having his best season with 41 tackles, three sacks, 12 tackles for losses and 11 quarterback hits.
Plenty of advice
A 2012 first-round draft pick from Illinois, Mercilus has provided a lot of advice to Clowney.
“We talked when I first got here,” Clowney said. “He said don’t get frustrated with it, trust the process. That’s what I’m doing: having a good time and learning. I’ve learned a few things from him. We work off each other.”
“He was one of the hardest workers I’ve seen when I came here. He’s just been getting better and better each year since I’ve been here. I’ve seen a lot of improvement in his game.”
Improvement doesn’t necessarily satisfy Mercilus. He’s a hard man to please when it comes to his game, and he devotes a lot of time, energy and financial investment in honing his skills, diet and workouts in addition to his workload at the Texans’ training facility.
“Just looking at different ways I can improve,” Mercilus said. “I’m able to have great communication with all my teammates to be able to move and get back there.”