HOUSTON \u2013 Laken Tomlinson arrived in Houston as an agent of change, a vital part of a dramatic overhaul of the Texans\u2019 offensive line.<\/p>\n
When the defending AFC South champions signed the former Pro Bowl offensive lineman to a one-year, $5 million maximum value contract, they did so with advanced knowledge of his blocking skills and leadership qualities.<\/p>\n
Tomlinson, a 33-year-old former Detroit Lions first-round draft pick, a former All-American and highly decorated student-athlete at Duke who earned academic honors in addition to excelling on the football field, is a central part of the watershed changes across the offensive line. <\/p>\n
The reset that coach DeMeco Ryans outlined in February at the NFL scouting combine included trading five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders, releasing guard Shaq Mason, trading guard Kenyon Green to the Philadelphia Eagles, shifting Tytus Howard to right guard, signing Tomlinson and tackle Cam Robinson to form a new tandem on the left side, trading for Ed Ingram and drafting rookie starting tackle candidate Aireontae Ersery in the second round. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s a ton of change in addition to firing offensive line coach Chris Strausser and promoting assistant line coach Cole Popovich to head offensive line coach and run game coordinator. The hope within the team is that Popovich will provide one voice as a teacher of blocking fundamentals and instill a hard-nosed, blue-collar mentality.<\/p>\n
Tomlinson is an ironman blocker who hasn\u2019t missed a single offensive snap in the past six seasons while playing for the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets. He hasn\u2019t missed a game since the 2017 season with the 49ers where he overlapped with Ryans. And he missed only three percent of the snaps in 2018 with the 49ers.<\/p>\n
Reliability is the hallmark of Tomlinson\u2019s lengthy career, and that\u2019s what he hopes to provide for the Texans. They allowed star quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times last season in the regular season and eight sacks with 14 quarterback hits surrendered in an AFC divisional round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n
Tomlinson, a 2021 Pro Bowl selection with the 49ers, discussed the Texans\u2019 outlook and more in a telephone interview with KPRC 2 heading into training camp, which starts Wednesday morning at NRG Park.<\/p>\n
What is the vibe and mentality like with the offensive line?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: \u2018Man, the vibe has been great, man, and the vibe is changing. I felt it coming in. Coming in here, I came in seeing all of those guys working out. I\u2019m usually the type of guy who comes in trying to set the tone in the weight room, in the locker room and stuff like that. When I came in, it\u2019s at the point of like, you guys have been here all offseason, you know through January, February, they\u2019re working. And I\u2019m like, wow, you really care about getting better here. Guys sit around, guys stay together and they work out together. And so they really care about each other in the locker room. So, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, my God, this is amazing. Not so much for me to come in on that aspect, you know, they\u2019ve been working.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, that was really cool to walk into, especially in the meeting room. Guys are there, they really put into their crafts and their development at the forefront of their minds. So, as a veteran, seeing that some of the younger guys on the team, it\u2019s awesome, because you know that\u2019s going to trickle down. So, guys are focused, man. They really, really care about what we\u2019ve got going on right now. The mentality we\u2019ve got going on, we want to be able to run the ball move people off the football ball and open up running lanes. And obviously, you know, protect C.J. So, guys are super excited, man, and obviously, you know, working with Coach Pop and all those guys has been really great so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s it like playing for Popovich, a former Fresno State offensive lineman who learned from New England Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarneccia?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: Oh, yeah, a lot of credit goes to him. Obviously, we need to have, kind of a vibe with the team in the position room. But it\u2019s so important for a position coach, I believe, to set the tempo. If you have a coach that comes in and sets a tempo from the get-go, it goes a long way, and I\u2019ve been so appreciative. Obviously, I\u2019m excited to come and learn more about coach Pop and how he coaches. I was so excited after the first couple of days. I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, here\u2019s a guy who really gets it, fantastic\u2019 I feel like offensive line coaching, you know, obviously with the Patriots, he learned from some of the best and he\u2019s really passionate about offensive line and obviously done it himself already. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, here\u2019s a guy who\u2019s extremely passionate about what we\u2019ve got going on. The tempo from the get-go, guys felt it, and he felt good because he\u2019s the guy who really believes in us and really wants us to do well, and you\u2019re gonna expect us to work hard and be cohesive and be a unit and have that amazing chemistry and everything that speaks of the line. He\u2019s setting us up for that. So, that\u2019s awesome. That\u2019s so fantastic and goes a long way. A lot of people don\u2019t get to really see that, but I don\u2019t want to say too much, obviously, but it\u2019s really good for a position group.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What do you attribute your rare durability and playing streak to?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: \u201cHonestly, It\u2019s hard to remember, but sometimes I have to sit down with my wife and talk to her about it. She\u2019s kind of the numbers lady. And she was just like you keep going on your little streak. She calls it my little streak and you forget about when you started the streak, I\u2019m like, what do you mean? She\u2019s like, \u2018You haven\u2019t missed a start since, like, Week two in 2017. I want to be there for my team. I want to be one of the guys out there that teams are relying on. I\u2019ve always been a team guy since college, since I\u2019ve been playing this game at a high level. And it\u2019s just something that really matters to me. It\u2019s something I think about daily, how I train in the offseason, especially, because that\u2019s that\u2019s what I\u2019m thinking about. I\u2019m thinking about week in week out I want to show my team that I want to be one of their guys they can count on at the end of the day. So, it means a lot to me. It really does. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a ton of preparation, a lot of work at my end, but also a good amount of luck as well, because, you know, as you know, you play football long enough, anything can happen. And you got to stay prayed up, man. And I thank God every day I get an opportunity to go out there and represent my team on Sunday or whenever we play because, you know, a lot of people don\u2019t see the work that us as athletes that we put to get out there on Sunday and it is truly a blessing just to be able to go out there and represent your team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What\u2019s it like playing for DeMeco Ryans, whom you know from San Francisco and was a Pro Bowl linebacker, and how much was that a part of your decision?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: \u201cI mean, 100%. it made a decision for me and my family so much easier because of the relationship that we\u2019ve established with the Niners. Him knowing me personally as a player, seeing everything that I\u2019ve been through as a player with the Niners and having that experience with me and that accountability I bring as a player, I try to be the same player every year. It kind of shows what I\u2019ve been doing since I was with the Niners, I want to be someone that they can depend on. I want to continue to be there every week. This is kind something I want to show my team, even him, knowing me on a more personal level, more intimate level as a player. I think it made it a no-brainer for me and my family just having that relationship and from the get-go, knowing that I can just show up and start working, which is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pro Football Focus and other analytics sites ranked the Texans\u2019 offensive line last in the NFL out of 32 teams. Does that motivate you guys as a group? What\u2019s your perspective?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: \u201cI mean, I get it, you know. You got to put something out there, you know. That\u2019s based on the team performance last year, but it\u2019s a new year. Everybody has to go through what they have to go through in training camp, have to go through the season to show what kind of team they have. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m saying, like, everything, that the work that we\u2019ve been putting in, the work we\u2019re going to be putting on this training camp, just wait and see the new season before you make a real judgment of our team. That\u2019s all I can say to that. One thing I can promise you is that we\u2019re going to work very, very hard and we\u2019re going to kick some butt.\u201d <\/p>\n
What did you study at Duke?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: \u201cI double majored in psychology and anthropology and I also did pre-med. I did quite a bit. It\u2019s a fantastic school, and we love our experience. Me and my wife met my freshman year there in college.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, it was hard academically. I\u2019m not going to deny it. It was hard, but, that\u2019s something I was truly passionate about, doing the medicine. I just told myself to do whatever I needed to do. I\u2019m going to do it. And it wasn\u2019t easy at times, but I got through it, got good grades and got both my degrees. I\u2019ve done what I want to do in football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tomlinson moved to the United States when he was 11 years old. He grew up in Chicago after being born in Savanna-la-Mar, Jamaica. He\u2019s married with one son and one daughter.<\/p>\n
What would you like to do in your next chapter after football?<\/p>\n
Tomlinson: \u201cMan, my ultimate goal has always been building a hospital or a healthcare center in Jamaica. That\u2019s been driving me to do what I do for so long. Honestly, because it\u2019s just the platform I have playing football it\u2019s going to help me down the road. So, that\u2019s kind of my ultimate goal, what I want to do in my next chapter in life. For now, I\u2019m out here. I\u2019m chasing greatness representing my team. I\u2019m trying to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Laken Tomlinson arrived in Houston as an agent of change, a vital part of a dramatic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[28133,7,221,253,2368,1826,6,1482,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-228729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-cole-popovich","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-houstontexans","13":"tag-laken-tomlinson","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-offensive-line","16":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114900542704325199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}