Texans coach Bill O’Brien did not reveal today who his starting quarterback will be in Saturday’s playoff game against the Raiders. But reading between the lines, it sounds like it’s going to be Brock Osweiler.
O’Brien said three things that suggest Osweiler may start over Tom Savage, who started on Sunday but left the game with a concussion:
1. Osweiler played well in relief of Savage, who had been struggling early in the game against the Titans.
2. O’Brien wants whoever is going to start on Saturday to practice with the offense all week, something Savage probably won’t be able to do because it takes time to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol.
3. O’Brien plans to announce his starter on Tuesday, which, again, he likely wouldn’t be able to do for Savage because Savage won’t be cleared through the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Add those three things up, and it sure sounds like O’Brien is planning to name Osweiler the starter for Saturday against the Raiders. O’Brien has flip-flopped on quarterbacks before, doing it with Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett last year. This year he flipped from Osweiler to Savage and is now poised to flop back to Osweiler.