The Texans are heading into the 2024 season with high expectations due to the way they finished last season and the moves they made this offseason, but prospective left guard Kenyon Green doesn’t fit in either category.

Green was a 2022 first-round pick in Houston and started as a rookie before missing all of last season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. Green used the rehab process as an opportunity to shed excess weight and get himself into better physical condition as he pushes for a return to the starting lineup.

On Saturday, head coach DeMeco Ryans gave a positive update on how things are trending for Green.

“With Kenyon through the first two days I’ve seen a guy who is in shape and a guy who is ready to compete and that’s going to give him his best chance to put his best film out there and we’ll see,” Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “Kenyon is available, so that’s going to continue to allow him to grow and become a better player because he’s done a great job in the offseason of working out, being attentive to all the details that the coaches have asked him to take care of, he’s been on it. That just gives him a chance and Kenyon has the right mindset and he’s working hard and he’s working the proper way, so I’m excited to see how he continues to grow once we get pads on and once we play in games.”

Green’s absence didn’t keep the Texans from winning the AFC South last season and their chances of doing it again will look better if he blossoms into the kind of player they thought was worthy of such a high pick a couple of years ago.