Texans backup quarterback Ryan Mallett has shown that he just doesn’t get it, and coach Bill O’Brien has reportedly seen enough.
The Houston Chronicle reports that when Mallett missed the Texans’ team flight to Miami on Saturday, O’Brien considered that the last straw and wanted to cut Mallett. But Texans General Manager Rick Smith refused.
That’s surprising because O’Brien has always been a Mallett backer. O’Brien coached Mallett in New England and wanted to bring him to Houston. But O’Brien also knows that Mallett has a history of failing to conduct himself like a professional. It’s easy to see why a coach would get tired of a player who can’t get his butt to work on time. However, Smith isn’t ready to get rid of Mallett yet.
The fact that Smith and O’Brien aren’t seeing eye to eye on Mallett raises the question of whether the two of them can work together effectively in Houston going forward. Texans owner Bob McNair may soon find that he has to choose between Smith’s vision for the future of the franchise and O’Brien’s, because at the moment it looks like the head coach and the G.M. are not on the same page.