Texans Notebook: Gary Kubiak 'very impressed' with Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill

Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill has a tough regular-season debut, going against the Texans defense on the road.

Tannehill was the No. 8 pick in this year's NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. Texans coach Gary Kubiak said Wednesday he is “very impressed” with Miami's rookie quarterback.

“I went into the draft thinking he's a franchise player,” Kubiak said. “I told [general manager] Rick [Smith] that before the draft. I expected him to get where he's at right now, and I know he's getting coached extremely well. He scares the heck out of you because he can move around and make plays off-schedule, and the last time he was in this building, he made quite a few. I've got a lot of respect for him.”

Tannehill's final college game came in Reliant Stadium. He threw for 329 yards and a touchdown, leading Texas A&M to a 33-22 win over Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.

While most of the fans were cheering for Tannehill in that game, fans will be screaming at him this time around.

“You want to fluster him,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “You want to confuse him, put a lot of pressure on him, make him uncomfortable. It's his first game, and I know one thing that's going to make him very uncomfortable is our fans. Our fans are going to do a heck of a job getting loud, making his checks tough, making it tough to hear their audibles. Really excited to have him come into our environment and see what it's all about.”

Quick Hits

• Kubiak says he's not worried about the replacement officials. “First off, we've got a group that we had before, so at least I'll know them,” he said. “I think they're working hard, doing a good job, the best job for them to get going so quickly. We can't focus on that. We got to stay focused on how we play, playing clean and penalty-free. Those type of things are a key to us winning. So, regardless of who's out there doing it, we've got to handle our job. “

• The Texans are preparing for a Dolphins team with a new coaching staff. “We've got to look at their preseason,” Kubiak said. “We know what they're trying to get done. They're a hurry-up offense and stay on the line of scrimmage. It's going to test you, test your conditioning, test you mentally with what's going on. Defensively, they're a lot like Cincinnati. Their coordinator came from the Bengals. They throw a lot of stuff at you.”

• Left tackle Duane Brown said the team must establish the run against the Dolphins. “That's something that we have yet to do throughout the preseason,” Brown said. “I think Matt [Schaub] has done a good job of getting the ball downfield, but us up front, we have to establish the run. I think there's no better time than now to do that and set the tempo for the rest of the season.”

Follow Texans blogger Sean Bielawski on Twitter, @CBSSportsNFLHOU.