Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. let out a laugh and broke into a big grin after Saturday’s NFL preseason game against the Miami Dolphins when asked what he thinks when he sees only a running back between him and the quarterback.

Anderson encountered that situation on a second-and-10 snap in the second quarter on Saturday.

“Hey, look, they called the play,” Anderson said. “They knew what was going to happen.”

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Anderson steamrolled running back Salvon Ahmed and caused quarterback Skylar Thompson to fumble. Thompson recovered the loose football for a 10-yard loss.

“It was fun,” Anderson said, “but it just goes back to being disciplined, doing what my coaches are telling me to do – take my two steps, climb up the field and just be physical. And I think that’s one of the biggest things. Coach, he doesn’t really care as long as you’re being physical and being fast, I think that’s the one thing you always look for.

“But we got to get better. It’s always room for improvement, always ways to make a better play, and we just got to get back to the drawing board and continue to get better as a defense and as a defensive line.”

Anderson joined Houston after back-to-back seasons as a unanimous All-American linebacker at Alabama. The Texans traded with the Arizona Cardinals to acquire the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft on April 27 to add Anderson.

Anderson played 12 snaps on Saturday, and he had another tackle in the Miami backfield. On the Dolphins’ second play, a high snap disrupted the timing, and Anderson tackled running back Raheem Mostert at the Miami 2-yard line for a 5-yard loss.

“Will, I thought he did a really good job of disrupting,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Playing on their side of the line of scrimmage, that’s what we want from our defensive end, so it was good to see Will actually show that. That’s what we know Will can do, and it was fun to see him make a play, fun to see the energy after he made a play.”

Energy is the objective on defense, Anderson said.

“I think that’s what playing defense is all about,” Anderson said. “Everybody making plays. Everybody having energy. Everybody jumping up and down no matter who’s making the play. And I think we all feed off each other, so when one person makes a big play, whether it’s a DB or whether it’s a defensive lineman or a linebacker, we all feed off of it, and it just helps us gain more momentum throughout the game and keep us rolling.”

Anderson’s two splash plays didn’t prevent the Dolphins from posting a 28-3 victory as Miami piled up 205 rushing yards, including a 65-yard run by Ahmed.

“It’s not representative of who we need to be on defense,” Ryans said, “and it all starts with the fundamentals first. First, we have to set the edge. The ball got outside way too many times. And it comes down to tackling. The tackling was not good enough.”

Houston concludes its preseason schedule against the New Orleans Saints at 7 p.m. CDT Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. FOX will televise the game.

“It’s really no I in team, it’s all of us,” Anderson said about the Texans’ need for defensive improvement after the Miami game. “All of our performances got to be better. If we plan to be a playoff team or we plan to be a great team, we all have to do a better job. Like again setting the edge, that’s all of us in the room, all of us as a defensive line, and like I said, we’re just going to get back to the drawing board on Monday and get this corrected.”

Houston kicks off its regular-season schedule on Sept. 10 with a road game against the Baltimore Ravens.

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