Texans morning huddle: A call to trade Mallett, First glance vs. Saints
By Randy Gurzi
The weekend is finally here Texans fans, and we are inching closer and closer to the start of the regular season. Tomorrow brings us the “dress rehearsal” where we will see the team at their “preseason best.” Before we can get to that game though, let’s catch up on all things related to our Houston Texans! Enjoy;
Texans equipment director recalls 2005 season with Saints – by Deepi Sidhu of HoustonTexans.com
"It was Week 3 of the 2005 preseason. The Saints were playing the Baltimore Ravens in a Saturday game at the Superdome, just days before Hurricane Katrina landed its destruction.“I remember at halftime, there were whispers going around that a storm was approaching,” Texans director of equipment services Mike Parson said. “We knew we were going to go somewhere, we just didn’t know where at the time.”Ten years later, Parson recalls the day like it was yesterday.Back then, he was just a 26-year-old equipment intern working for the New Orleans Saints. He’d been a training camp intern for the team while in college. Parson had just accepted a job as head equipment manager at the University of New Orleans, but still helped the Saints on game days.Parson had no idea how much more he’d be working with them that 2005 season.“As soon as the game was over, we were packing up everything,” Parson said. “You never knew the magnitude of the storm. You just knew something was coming. We packed up for the fourth preseason game against Oakland because we knew we had to go there.”The Saints equipment staff stayed up all night getting ready for the Oakland trip and preparing for practice the next week. They still didn’t know where that would be, so they packed up a truck with home equipment and sent it to Mississippi.“In case something happened,” Parson recalls.The University of New Orleans athletic teams all evacuated to different schools and location. Parson couldn’t go with everybody, but the Saints wanted him to help the team. He got permission from the university and went full-time with the Saints that season.The team was scheduled to leave on an evening flight, but decided to fly out earlier because of imminent bad weather. The Saints practice facility in Metairie, Louisiana, is a quick ten-minute drive to the airport.Not that day."
Why The Houston Texans Need To Trade Ryan Mallett – CBS Houston
"Tensions at NRG Stadium are high and the rumor mill is cranking. What is the relationship like between Ryan Mallett and the Houston Texans? Did he oversleep? Does he want out? It shouldn’t matter what happened and what Mallett wants. The Texans NEED to trade Ryan Mallett. Not because of feelings being hurt or because he’s not the right guy for the system. But they simply don’t have room to keep three QB’s on this roster.Some of these names might change, but the number of players at each spot shouldn’t.This team is very deep at WR. Chandler Worthy, Jaelen Strong, and Keith Mumphery are the last three as WRs on the roster, but you can make a case for Demaris Johnson, EZ Nwachukwu and Travis Labhart.Most teams keep nine offensive linemen. With Su’a-Filo’s injury issues and having a new man at center the 2015 Texans can’t be any different.They’ll keep the standard three TE’s and one FB. However, with Arian not coming back till week 3 or 4 they will need to keep 4 running backs until he is ready to go.On the defensive side of things, only three defensive ends and three nose tackles will fit on the team but J.J. Watt is like two guys out there so they should be fine with six instead of seven.Linebackers total up to eight because Kourtnei Brown has earned a spot on this team and they won’t cut another 2nd round pick in Benardrick McKinney.The one area of the field that will have an extra position will be the secondary. With a first round pick, questions at safety, and the emergence of Charles James II, the 2015 Texans will start the season with eleven secondary positions on the roster.And that leaves us at QB. Many teams do not keep three QB’s on the active roster. What are the chances of two QB’s in one game going down? And if they do, then Lechler will just lead the team down the field, or Watt. The Texans can end the controversy now. Trade Ryan Mallett and open up the roster spot for one of these other positions. Give 100% confidence to Brian Hoyer and let him guide the team. Don’t have him looking over his shoulder. Don’t have the team questioning when the backup will come in. Give your second-year man a boost to the backup role and sign a young QB to the practice squad for any emergencies that may come your way."
Texans backup QB Ryan Mallett demoted to third string after sleeping through practice – by Justin Tasch of New York Daily News
"It’s been a rough week for Ryan Mallett.On Monday Mallett found out he lost the Texans’ starting quarterback competition to Brian Hoyer. He didn’t take the loss very well, openly expressing his frustration with reporters. Mallett followed up by oversleeping on Thursday and missing practice.Mallett, Tom Brady’s former backup in New England, returned to practice on Friday, but according to the Houston Chronicle he was the third quarterback to work in drills. It seemed in the span of one week, Mallett went from a possible starter to third-string. But Texans coach Bill O’Brien told reporters Friday Mallett remains second on the depth chart.“The situation with Ryan not being at practice that’s between Ryan and I,” O’Brien said, via the Chronicle. “Some things are left within the team.”One day after Hoyer was named the starter, Mallett was honest about his displeasure with not earning the job.“Disappointed? Yeah,” said Mallett, who went 1-1 as a starter for Houston last year. “Angry? Yeah, a little bit. I thought I did enough to win the job. It wasn’t seen that way.”"
First Glance: Texans at Saints – by Drew Dougherty of HoustonTexans.com
"The third preseason game is Sunday, and the Texans take their first road trip of the 2015 campaign. The Saints await them in New Orleans for a 3 p.m. CT kickoff, and this is the final bit of action the starters will see before Week 1 against the Chiefs.Brian Hoyer will start at quarterback, and there’s a very good chance you won’t see defensive linemen J.J. Watt and Vince Wilfork, as well as corner Johnathan Joseph.None of those three have played a preseason game yet, and that won’t likely change on Sunday.With that in mind, here are five things I’ll keep my eyes on this weekend.1. Sustained Drives: The Texans offense sputtered a bit last week in the loss to Denver. Hoyer andRyan Mallett combined to lead six drives in the first half versus the Broncos, and every one of them ended in a Shane Lechler punt. None of those drives went longer than 32 yards, and the farthest they got was to the Denver 47-yard line.Each signal caller drove the Texans offense the length of the field in the opener against the 49ers.A few touchdown drives would be encouraging signs on Sunday. Coordinator George Godsey specifically hopes to accomplish a few things offensive line-wise against New Orleans.“I want to see execution up front,” Godsey said. “I think from a line standpoint, we want to come out and make sure assignment’s sound.”2. Pressure the passer: Whether it’s Drew Brees, Luke McCown, Garrett Grayson or Ryan Griffin undercenter for the Saints, the Texans pass rush will be something to watch.How well will outside linebackers like Whitney Mercilus and John Simon at the top of the depth chart, on down to the undrafted free agents like Lynden Trail and Carlos Thompson, get after the passer?Through the first two games, the Texans have sacked the quarterback four times. Kourtnei Brown picked off a pass last week and returned it for a touchdown, and also has a pair of sacks this preseason. He’s fighting for a roster spot, and another strong showing in a preseason game could go a long way to whether or not he makes the squad.“There’s a guy that’s gone out and taken advantage of the preseason games,” head coach Bill O’Brien said. “He makes an interception for a touchdown, he’s had a couple tackles for loss, sacks in the San Francisco game. The guy has really improved in his time here, so he’s made a name for himself.”"