In his seventh NFL season, Montravius Adams is playing more than he ever has.

As Pittsburgh’s nose tackle in the 2023 campaign, the former Auburn standout has been on the field for 59 percent of the Steelers’ defensive snaps as part of a unit that has produced seven turnovers in the past two games.

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That performance by the Pittsburgh defense has the Steelers at 2-1 entering Sunday’s game in Houston, where Adams expects to encounter a friend-turned-foe in the Texans’ defensive line.

Houston left guard Kendrick Green spent the previous two seasons with the Steelers.

“At the beginning it will be fun to get to see him,” Adams told KDKA-FM in Pittsburgh. “Once it starts, all the friendships are out the window and it’s about winning. On the D-line, we’re trying to get to the quarterback and whoever else got the ball. If Kendrick get in the way, or anybody else, we got to go through him.

“At the end of the day, the best dog wins.”

Adams has been a run-stopper throughout his NFL career. He has 1.5 sacks, and those came in the 2018 season. But the Steelers’ success on Sunday likely will rest on their ability to affect rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. The Texans have averaged 2.8 yards per rushing attempt, the worst in the AFC this season, while Stroud has passed for 906 yards in his first three NFL games.

Stroud also has been sacked 11 times, and Pittsburgh entered Week 4 with the most sacks in the NFL with 13, led by outside linebacker T.J Watt with six.

That’s where Green will come in handy for Houston, Adams said – and not just through blocking, but with inside information on the pass-rushers.

“The toughest thing is that he knows everyone on the D-line,” Adams said. “That’s what he’ll share with their other offensive linemen – T.J., (outside linebacker) Alex (Highsmith), (defensive lineman) Larry (Ogunjobi). I think he’ll share with his O-line to help them be in place.”

Green served as Pittsburgh’s starting center as a rookie in 2021. The Steelers signed free agent Mason Cole to play that spot in 2022, and Green lost the competition at left guard to Kevin Dotson. Green stayed on the Pittsburgh roster for the entire 2022 season, but he never got in a game.

With Houston’s offensive line dealing with injuries and inexperience, the Texans obtained Green for a sixth-round draft choice at the end of the preseason, and he entered the starting lineup in the second game.

Adams also joined Pittsburgh in 2021. Signed off the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad, he had been released three times over the previous three months.

Adams has started 16 games for Pittsburgh after making four starts at his previous NFL stops.

Adams entered the NFL as a third-round selection of the Green Bay Packers in 2017. A foot injury suffered in training camp delayed his NFL debut, and he ended his four seasons with the Packers on injured reserve during the second half of the 2020 season.

Signed by the New England Patriots in free agency in 2021, Adams didn’t make the team coming out of the preseason and played five games for the Saints that season before Pittsburgh picked him up.

Last season joined the 2018 campaign as the only times that Adams has played in every game.

Adams’ highlight play so far this season might have been his first forced fumble since the 2018 season. He knocked the ball away from Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson on a fourth-and-1 run and Pittsburgh recovered at its 42-yard in the Steelers’ 26-22 victory on Sept. 18.

Pittsburgh and Houston kick off at noon CDT Sunday at NRG Stadium.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.