Bill O’Brien: No quarterback announcement coming
By Randy Gurzi
Fans in Houston and anyone who watched Brian Hoyer play quarterback for the Houston Texans may have expected an announcement today that the team would go with Ryan Mallett as the starter against the Carolina Panthers this week.
However, head coach Bill O’Brien said no such announcement was coming today, and apparently may not come at all.
"“I’m not going to make a big quarterback announcement today,” O’Brien said during a Monday press conference. “You’ll have to wait until the first play of the Carolina game.”"
While some contend that making the switch to Mallett is a typical “overreaction Monday” move, the fact is Hoyer has been in the league for several years now since being picked up by the Patriots out of Michigan State in 2009.
In that time he has amassed slightly over 55% passing and a one-to-one touchdown to interception ratio as he has 20 of each for his underwhelming career. Those numbers were identical to Sunday as he had a shade over 50% passing with one touchdown and one pick.
It’s beyond time for the team to realize what everyone else already knows, Hoyer is not the answer. O’Brien may have some trust in him which makes him a decent backup if the starter were to go down, but having him run an offense is not a legitimate plan.
Hoyer is not an upgrade over last season’s starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, meaning if the team was not ready to see what Mallett could do, they should have stood with what they had at the position. After a bad Week 1 from Hoyer, it’s time to make the call for Mallett.
Here’s hoping O’Brien makes the right call.