Ryan Mallett's first NFL start was a success. The Texans won, he moved the offense along, and tossed a pair of touchdowns. On Wednesday, November 5, head coach Bill O'Brien made the announcement that Mallett would start instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick.
O'Brien spoke on Monday after looking at the game film of Mallett and the Texans' 23-7 triumph at Cleveland, and explained what he'd seen in practice from Mallett over the previous weeks that caused the change in direction under center.
- "The huddle command,"
- "The ability to get us into the right play at the line of scrimmage,"
- "His poise on the sideline,"
- "His communication with his teammates on the sideline."
- "I thought he was decisive for the most part in the passing game. I had him down for two poor decisions.When you throw the ball whatever it was, 30 times, and you only have two poor decisions, that's not bad for a first start. Those were the things that I had seen in practice and it was good to see that in a game."
