Whitney Mercilus finished with a dozen sacks in 2015.
It was a breakthrough season for the 2012 first-rounder, and Mercilus knows what he needs to do to build upon it.
"Pretty much just continue to enhance the things that I did well, improve the things I didn't pretty much, just continue on the type of work ethic that I had last year and in the ways that I excel," Mercilus said on Monday.
After ringing up a combined 18 sacks in his first three NFL seasons, the former Illini star notched three multi-sack games last season. But he's focused on what he must improve.
"Things I didn't do well, I'd say be consistent, especially in the first half of the year and even transitioning into the second half of the year last year," Mercilus said.
The outside linebacker also had 14 tackles for a loss, forced a fumble and recovered two others for a defense that was tied for 7th in the NFL in points-per-game allowed.
Mercilus and the Texans continue with OTAs on Tuesday at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
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Outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus' career as a Texan, and his college career at Illinois are shown here in photos.