Like his teammates, Ryan Mallett struggled at times during Sunday's loss at Carolina.

But also like his teammates, he flourished at other points in the contest. 

"He played a tough game," head coach Bill O'Brien said. "It's a good defense that he went against. There were times when he really did a good job. There were some things, like all of us, that he could improve upon."

The fifth-year quarterback threw it early, often and throughout the 24-17 loss to the Panthers. He

completed 27-of-58 attempts for 244 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. He also scrambled for a 6-yard score in the fourth quarter. 

"We gotta execute better," Mallett said. "It's about goinng back to work tomorrow and getting ready for Tampa Bay. We've gotta watch the film, make our corrections and put that one behind us."

The offense struggled in the first half, managing just a field goal and 93 yards of offense. Mallett was 11-of-29 in the first 30 minutes, and not pleased with how he and the squad performed.

"We've gotta get it going," Mallett said. "We can't start off slow. The second drive was like a 10-play drive. We gotta score touchdowns. We can't settle for field goals.

However, after the intermission, Mallett was a perfect 7-of-7 on the first drive of the second half, hitting Garrett Graham in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard toucdown pass. O'Brien was complimentary of

the way Mallett rebounded.

"But he hung in there," O'Brien said. "He was resilient. He tried to bring us back there at the end, but we were just a play short there."

Mallett targeted receiver DeAndre Hopkins 11 times, completing five passes to the wideout for 53 yards. The pass-catcher, like O'Brien, saw some good things in Mallett's performance.

"He grew throughout the game. He never gave up," Hopkins said. "He did what a quarterback is supposed to do, and that's lead this team."

On the Texans' final offensive series with a chance to tie, Mallett tried to hit Hopkins in the back of the end zone, but the pass was incomplete with 5 seconds remaining. The incompletion on fourth down gave the ball back to Carolina.

Mallett was disappointed afterwards and said the Texans "gotta get a win" in Week 3 against the Buccaneers. 

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