Tom Savage is a man with plans.
A plan for today.
A plan for this week.
A plan for the early part of the offseason.
And a plan for the 2016 NFL campaign.
The second-year quarterback, who spent the season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, spoke Sunday morning in the Texans locker room. He's healed physically, and said he's attacked every day of work.
"I learned a lot this season," Savage said. "So it's been beneficial. I tried not to waste a day. Every day go out there with a plan and try and learn something new."
Savage was hurt in the preseason finale on September 3 against the Cowboys. In addition to rehabbing, Savage described how he handled his time.
"I had a plan for each week," Savage said. "It was beneficial to kind of take a step back and get an outside view of what's going on. I always had these little game plan packages that I could work on and kind of learn from. So I kept them all, and I've got all my notebooks ready, and I'm ready to go."
Head coach Bill O'Brien noticed how sharp Savage was in the quarterback room throughout the autumn.
"I think he was very attentive in meetings," O'Brien said. "I'm in a lot of those quarterback meetings and he's in there taking notes. I ask him questions during the week every week and most of the time he's got the right answer."
But O'Brien and the Texans aren't just impressed with the mental side of Savage's game.
"We like the way he throws the ball," O'Brien said. It's unfortunate what happened to him in the beginning the season there, in the preseason. But we feel the same way that we've always felt about Tom, he's a talented guy that has a chance to play."
O'Brien said Sunday that the Texans will evaluate each and every position on the team. There's a good chance Savage, Brian Hoyer and Brandon Weeden will be challenged by a rookie quarterback and/or another veteran signal caller. Savage welcomes and all competition.
"They can draft 12 quarterbacks," Savage said. "I am going to be ready to go. I am definitely excited about competing and that still falls under the category of controlling what I can control."
Before that happens, though, Savage has to take care of a plan outside of his football life.
"I gotta take my wife on a honeymoon so she doesn't divorce me, six months after our wedding," the newly wed quarterback joked. "I'm ready to go. I just need to keep working out and get ready."
Savage and the Texans won't work together again until April 18, which is the start of the team's offseason conditioning program.
