It is safe to say Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien was happy to see Eric Ebron leave the AFC South and join the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason.

The Texans faced the 6-foot-4, 253-pound tight end four times in Ebron’s two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. Ebron scored a touchdown in each of the first three matchups, and he totaled 17 catches for 219 yards to go with those three scores.

“When he was in Indy, he definitely gave us problems,” O’Brien said.

Those problems included a 2016 game when Ebron was in Detroit. He had seven catches for 79 yards, providing another example of the resume he has built against O’Brien’s Texans.

“He’s a really good player,” O’Brien said. “He has good size and athletic ability. A very instinctive player.”

Ebron has averaged nearly five catches and 60 yards in five career games against the Texans, and if he duplicates those numbers Sunday when the Texans visit Heinz Field, it will be a step up in production for the first-year Steelers tight end.

Through two weeks, Ebron slowly has been integrated into the Steelers offensive game plan. He has caught four passes for 61 yards and no touchdowns. After getting a single catch in the season opener against the New York Giants, Ebron was more active in a 26-21 win against the Denver Broncos, catching three passes for 43 yards. But he also had a drop, and Ben Roethlisberger overthrew him on a fourth-and-2 in the third quarter.

Given the lack of offseason workouts and preseason games, it probably is not surprising Ebron, who is in the first year of a two-year, $12 million contract, is still trying to find his footing in the Steelers offense. While Diontae Johnson has been targeted 23 times and JuJu Smith-Schuster 14, Ebron is fourth with seven targets, one behind No. 3 receiver James Washington.

“Keep watching,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “That’s all I can say to that. … A two-game body of work is not a big enough sample to assess. We are pleased with the development of Ebron and his role within our system, and time will tell that story as we proceed.”

The Steelers signed Ebron to elevate a tight end group that had some of the NFL’s worst numbers in 2018. With Vance McDonald and Nick Vannett serving as the primary tight ends, the Steelers’ 53 receptions at the position ranked No. 25, and the combined 408 receiving yards was last among the 32 teams. The tight ends also combined for three touchdowns — or 10 fewer than Ebron had with the Colts in 2018.

Like Tomlin, Roethlisberger figures it’s a matter of time before he and Ebron develop some offensive chemistry.

“There’s no reason to panic when it comes to how much ‘E’ is involved or not involved,” Roethlisberger said. “They’ve done a good job of keeping a close eye on him, and, offensively, we haven’t really hit our stride yet. So that’s OK. As long as we are winning football games, that is the most important thing.”

Even with Ebron’s modest contributions, the Steelers are 2-0 for the first time since 2017. That also was the only other time Ebron, in his final season with the Lions, played for a team that was undefeated after two weeks.

“I’m excited about what we can do,” Ebron said.

The addition of Ebron has allowed the Steelers to increase their usage of two tight-end sets. Ebron has played 70% of the offensive snaps, and McDonald has been on the field 57% of the time. McDonald, though, has been targeted just four times with two catches for 6 yards.

“Both tight ends we are keeping a close eye on,” Roethlisberger said. “Like I said, we just haven’t really hit our stride offensively yet where we have done a lot of no-huddle. I think they get involved a lot in the no-huddle stuff. We haven’t done a ton of that yet.

“I also think there have been some plays that have been called for those guys that have just been covered. None of us are panicking. We know how special both of our tight ends are. They make the big plays when we need them.”

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