TYTUS HOWARD: I think they've got some pretty stout guys in the middle, some pretty fast edge rushers outside. Yeah, they have a pretty talented front seven, powerful inside. Linebackers are fast, edge guys are fast. Going to be a challenge.
Q. Tytus, how do you view things with Davis starting at quarterback now?
TYTUS HOWARD: Look at it the same. I think Davis has taken a lot of reps with those guys over the past couple weeks, so preparing the same. I think he's prepared himself for that moment and I think he's going to do a good job.
Q. How much pride do you take as an offensive line keeping your quarterback clean, only giving up two sacks in the last two weeks?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, the ultimate goal is no sacks. It's the No. 1 job for us while we're here is to protect the quarterback, so that's our ultimate goal, to keep him clean, and I think this season we're doing a pretty good job of that.
But we can only get better for our last two performances, so I look for us to be better this weekend.
Q. This has been your third year here. What have you noticed from Tim Kelly in the first couple of games, how he's carried himself as a coordinator?
TYTUS HOWARD: I think Tim is doing a great job. He's took over the OC job for the last two years and I think he's making a name for himself. He put us in a great position to win some football games, and I applaud him for that.
Q. What's he like behind the scenes?
TYTUS HOWARD: Tim is pretty cool. I've known Timmy since I went through the pre-draft process. We became very close then, so I think we have a good very relationship.
Q. Take about you guys in the run block, and we talked to David Culley earlier and he said some of the issues were more mild than missing assignments. How would you assess y'all's performance?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, I think we could always have room for improvement. We've got to tighten up some technique in the running game. You have a couple missed assignments, but as a group I think we know what we need to do to get better and we can showcase that this weekend.
Q. How would you say the adjustment has gone so far two weeks in?
TYTUS HOWARD: I think it's gone pretty good. Like I said, there's always room for improvement. I'm very critique on myself for a couple of plays I've left out on the field where I feel I could have had better technique to put my team in a better position. So that is what I'm looking forward every week, to get better than I was the following week.
Q. (Indiscernible).
TYTUS HOWARD: Just everything happens faster. You've got to be more tight with your footwork. Just little things like that that makes a big difference. Been watching film on myself, listened to what my coaches say I need to work better at, and I been trying to do that at practice to get better.
Q. What are the challenges, if any, transitioning from one quarterback to another?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, every QB is different. Just getting in a rhythm for their voice, how they say the cadence, just getting how they like to set the pocket up.
But I think Coach Culley and Tim have done a great job this whole training camp of getting Davis a lot of reps with the ones, so I think we're going to be pretty good with him back there because we already practiced a lot with him;
Last week we got the whole second half with him, so I feel like we're going to be pretty good. I think we're happy to have him back there.
Q. What about when you're going from one quarterback like Tyrod has his capability; maybe Davis is not the same. Does that affect your mindset at all in the blocking or you can't think that way?
TYTUS HOWARD: No, you can't think that way. I think Davis surprised a lot of people. He can actually move pretty good. I think a lot of people haven't got a chance to see that, and I think they will see that this weekend. But he's pretty athletic.
Q. How fast is he?
TYTUS HOWARD: I don't know how fast he is, but he's pretty athletic.
Q. Coming into this game 10 sacks in two games, have you guys had a opportunity to watch some film on Carolina's front seven, and what are some things you can do to prevent them from coming to Houston and continuing that?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, we watched some film on them. I think they've got a whole bunch of young guys that are very active up front. We've got to play hard, play to the whistle, and we've got to win the one-on-ones.
That's the biggest thing. They create a lot of one-on-one with their front. They control the edge guys and keep the guys inside from pushing the pocket, I think we should be good to protect Davis all game.
Q. Does it help last week because you guys went up against another defensive front (indiscernible) does that kind of help you prepare you for the Panthers, for this upcoming game?
TYTUS HOWARD: It helps, but it doesn't -- like you can't compare those two fronts because it's a whole different type of rushers. You've got two speed guys outside and you've got the bigger guys inside here on the defense.
It's a totally different defense, so you can't compare how they rest to how these guys go this week. So I think you've just got to watch the film and practice how you're going to play against those guys because every week is a different challenge.
Q. How much more can the offense open up if the run game starts to get where it can be?
TYTUS HOWARD: I mean, I think it will come. The first game rushed for like 150, 160 or somewhere in that area, so the run game is there, it's just being consistent every week with the run game. I think that's how it goes, to be more consistent.
Q. Are there games like the Browns where you know it's going to be tougher sometimes to get those?
TYTUS HOWARD: I think we try to treat every game the same. We don't try to treat no team any different because when you start doing that, you've got to think about we're in the NFL, everybody is here, everybody gets paid for a reason. You take one team more lightly than you do the other team, that's when you can get beat.
Our goal is to dominate in the run game every week. We just didn't get that done last week, and so we look to get it done this week.
Q. You and Laremy are really close on and off the field. What is it like playing next to him?
TYTUS HOWARD: It's very cool. Laremy is a cool dude. I've known him -- I came here a couple weeks before him, so we've been here the same amount of time. We've became close. I think out of the past two years it's only four or five of us that's still here on the team, so we just have that bond, and it's very cool playing beside him because he's a really good player.
You see him playing real good it only makes you want to play better. I think it's going to help me out in the long run.
Q. The practice matchups against Jacob Martin, do they prepare you for some speedier rushers...
TYTUS HOWARD: Definitely, because Jacob -- I think I saw somewhere he's one of the fastest get-offs in the league, and trust me, I've practiced against him, I went against him a lot on one-on-ones, and you can feel that get-off.
So I think going against guys like him helps prepare us for the game.
Q. Can you talk about the pocket presence of Davis and what that means for you guys up front?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, Davis is like -- when he sits back in that pocket, he's already tall, so he can see everything, and he just delivers. That's one thing I can say about him. He's not scared to take a hit when he's throwing the ball, and you can tell because I think last week the guy came free, he took the hit, but he's a quarterback -- a lot of quarterbacks can't take a hit like that and just get right back up.
He got right back up and came back down on that drive and scored a touchdown. So that speaks volumes to what type of player he is.
Q. Did he say anything after that hit?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, like it just never happened. He just went on to the next play. Very impressive.
Q. Does it matter much to you that you have a chance to help this team show what they're all about?
TYTUS HOWARD: Yeah, it's always good to showcase our talents in front of everybody because like we all see what's going on in the media. A lot of people don't think we're a good football team, but everyone inside this building knows that we're a great football team, and we'll get a chance to showcase that Thursday night.
Q. Going back to the huddle, what is he like -- whenever we talk to Davis he seems to be real kind of just even Steven. What is he like in the huddle?
TYTUS HOWARD: He's the same way. You give him the play, he's right on point, he's ready to go.
Q. What are some of the challenges going from blocking for a quarterback like Deshaun and Tyrod Taylor who's a little bit more mobile versus a guy like Davis? Seems like he's more so the original pocket passing quarterback.
TYTUS HOWARD: I mean, you just -- with Deshaun and Tyrod being mobile quarterbacks they can extend plays a lot, but like I said earlier, a lot of people might not know it, but Davis is more athletic than he seems to be.
I feel like he can extend the pocket too and extend plays and make some big plays. I think he will be able to show that to everybody this weekend, or this Thursday.
Q. Why do you think people underestimate Davis' athleticism?
TYTUS HOWARD: I just think because he probably didn't showcase -- nobody has like seen him do it like in a game. But I've seen him at practice roll out of the pocket, deliver a strike down the field to a guy, and I was like, Wow, that's an impressive throw for a rookie. So he earned my respect.
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