The Houston Texans have lost four of their last five games despite playing some decent football, and the inconsistent play of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is one of the reasons they are struggling. Fitzpatrick completed just 48% of his passes in Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Could Ryan Mallett do any better?
The former Arkansas star seems to think so. After the loss to Philly, Fitzpatrick sent a tweet indicating he is waiting for his number to be called.
“I’m staying focused for when the time comes,” Mallett tweeted, as noted by the Houston Chronicle. “Seize the opportunity #justwaiting.”
That’s pretty much what all backup quarterbacks are supposed to do, but the timing of Mallett’s tweet made it seem like he was calling for Fitzpatrick’s job. He deleted the tweet and tried to clarify on Monday morning.
“Don’t misinterpret my last tweet. I’m not calling to be the starter,” Mallett wrote. “Frustrations of losing. I play my role. I am a team player first. Always.”
For what it’s worth, Texans coach Bill O’Brien would not rule out making a change at quarterback.
“I think we have to evaluate everything,” he said. “I don’t think you can always – and I’ve said this along – I don’t think you can look at one position and put all the blame on that.
“I think we have to look at, as far as what we’re doing offensively, we have to look at … who’s playing what, what positions they’re playing, how we’re getting the ball, how we’re playing at every position, including quarterback — we have to look at all of that.”
Fitzpatrick has not been horrible, but he hasn’t done enough. The Texans had four takeaways on Sunday and did very little with them. If they keep losing, a major change could be coming. Time will tell if Mallett is the beneficiary of it.
