imo he's a jerk, but he is a good player, knows his job, and always comes to work, ie not on the DL
yeah, I concur that he's been a jerk throughout his career.
It's been nearly a year since he played, so who knows what he can do at this point. He had 6 sacks last season, and was ranked 32nd against the run among starting DTs per PFF.
As the Commanders game showed, the Birds has some weaknesses at DT against the run. Between Suh and Linval Joseph (signed yesterday; practicing today), Howie seems to be doing a lot to try to address the weakness. There aren't a lot of options available to GMs at this point in the season, so I give Howie some credit for his efforts.