After sitting out the first two preseason games, Tyrann Mathieu finally made his much-awaited Houston Texans debut Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams.

Per Deepi Sidhu of the team’s official website, the All-Pro safety said it felt great to suit up and play for the first time as a Texan.

“I was ecstatic, probably too excited because I was on a pitch count but it was fun to just get out there,” said Mathieu. “Obviously, my teammates made some plays so it was smooth.”

Mathieu, who was acquired by the Texans this offseason following his release from the Arizona Cardinals, played all 16 games last season, the first time he’d done so in his five-year NFL career. He has also been healthy throughout the offseason, but Texans head coach Bill O’Brien opted to keep him and some of the team’s other starters out of their first couple of preseason contests as a precaution.

While the Honey Badger didn’t play too much against the Rams, he claims it was enough to knock some of the rust off. He says he also plans to watch some tape of his performance in preparation for his much-anticipated matchup against Tom Brady and the Patriots in Week 1.

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“I’ll just watch a ton of film, see if it helps me,” Mathieu said. “But I’ve got a tough one with [Tom] Brady coming up so we’ll focus on that, prepare as hard as we could.”

After being a consistent top 10-caliber defense for the better part of the decade, the Texans defense took a significant step down last year as they finished a disappointing 23rd per DVOA. Hopefully, the addition of Mathieu, as well as the return of J.J. Watt, will help turn the fortunes of that talented unit back around this year.