Steelers’ Kendrick Green back at center as career takes another turn
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Kendrick Green’s star-crossed Pittsburgh Steelers career has taken another turn.
Green has been repping exclusively at center over the first two weeks of organized team activities, Green confirmed after Wednesday’s session.
“You just gotta do what you gotta do,” Green said from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I gotta do what I have to not just to have a role but to make the team, really.”
Only 10 months ago, while competing to be the starting left guard early during last year’s training camp, Green acknowledged, “To be honest, I didn’t really like playing center.”
But Green is entering his third NFL season back at that position, one he only dabbled in during college. Twenty-nine of Green’s 33 starts at Illinois were at left guard.
Despite that, the Steelers identified him as the successor to possible future Hall of Fame center Maurkice Pouncey when they selected Green with a third-round draft pick three months after Pouncey’s retirement.
Green started the first 15 games of his rookie season at center. But a stint on the covid list and a calf injury forced him to miss the following game, and J.C. Hassenauer started the Steelers’ playoff game in Kansas City despite Green being healthy enough and available to play.
The Steelers signed Mason Cole to be their center last spring and moved Green to guard to compete against Kevin Dotson to start on the left side. Dotson won the job, and Green spent the entire season on the inactive list. Hassenauer was the backup interior lineman.
Hassenauer since has moved on to the Giants, and Green is back at center.
“I had a feeling it was going to happen,” Green said. “I got a lot of work in with (offensive line coach Pat Meyer) this offseason, working at center and stuff.
“What can you do? It is what it is. Just deal with it. Roll with the punches.”
“Klemm’s philosophies and techniques were completely different than what Pat Meyer’s are. Switching back & forth– switching positions, at that– it was kinda like starting from ground zero. It’s frustrating, but it’s what I get paid to do, so I gotta do it"https://t.co/xFAO2xRqKQ
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 4, 2022
Green said after he lost out to Dotson, he began to take practice reps at center (in addition to guard) again last season.
Now, Green is back exclusively (so far) again at center, the latest chapter in a Steelers tenure that has had its twists and turns over the past 25 months.
“You’re telling me,” Green said. “You just get put in bad situations and just deal with it. It is what it is, you know?
“I’m getting better. I feel a lot better than I did at this time when I was a rookie. I hadn’t played it then yet. I now have played it at least a little.”
Green said he is grateful for the guidance of both Meyer, a 10-year NFL assistant, and Cole, a six-year veteran.
Cole had a similar career track to Green: a third-round pick who started 16 games as a rookie but was a reserve in his second season. Cole since has found his footing as a pro and is entrenched as the Steelers’ starting center in 2023.
Cole on his advice to Green: “Take what you can from the older guys and how they prepare, how they take care of their bodies, how they function, how their attitude is, how they process things. There is so much to learn in this game. You can never stop.”
Green called Meyer’s philosophy in coaching a line to be more “center-friendly” than how the position room operated in 2021 under coach Adrian Klemm, who parted ways with the Steelers late in that season.
“Mason is a pretty good (mentor). My rookie year I didn’t have anybody to lean on,” Green said. “Mason’s played a lot of football and played a lot of center. He’s helped me out a ton. Coach Pat is great. I’m kind of getting better coaching now, too.”
The irony, listening to Green, is he’s a better player in 2023 fighting for a spot at the bottom of the roster than he was as a starter in 2021.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I definitely think that.”
Green doesn’t put much effort into suppressing his frustration with his current professional circumstances. But as the father of a 2-year-old daughter, he also keeps appropriate perspective.
“It probably would have been best that when I got here if I (hadn’t) played right away,” he said, “if I got to learn before I was thrown in there.
“But you do what the (heck) they tell you. You deal with it, man. Roll with the punches. Hopefully I get a chance one day. It is what it is.”
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