10 different players have been in the quarterbacks meeting room since 2014. Some have overlapped. Only one, Tom Savage, has been there through it all. And according to his current position coaches, he's remained unflappable despite the three years of change.
"He's just come in with a very down-to-earth work ethic with it," quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan said. "If he's thought about it a lot, it hasn't come through to me, in terms of what his role will be or how it's changed from a year ago."
Deshaun Watson will be the 11th quarterback in the room over the last four years, and the 2017 first rounder brings a championship pedigree after guiding Clemson to a BCS Title last season. Savage has welcomed the challenge, though, and was the first Texan to send Watson a congratulatory text after the club selected him this May.
"He's just coming in every day saying, 'You know what, I'm going to work to get better, I'm going to work to have an even greater understanding of the offense, a greater understanding of defenses and what they're trying to do to us and how that affects my job,'" Ryan said.
Offensive assistant Pat O'Hara joined the Texans in the winter of 2015. He's worked closely with Savage in that span, and has seen the quarterback progress quite a bit.
"Yeah, he has grown a lot," O'Hara said. "He's been through a lot, not just the injuries, but he's seen a lot of quarterbacks come and go here. The thing that really is positive for him is that this is his fourth season, and in college he was with three different teams, three different systems, maybe more, maybe different coordinators."
The continuity in this offense makes Savage the most-tenured, other than head coach Bill O'Brien.
"He really has a good knowledge of what's expected of the position, not only from on the field standpoint but from as far as what's kind of after that position here," O'Hara said.
In a pair of starts, and three quarters of another game last season, Savage completed 63 percent of his passes for 461 yards. Building on that will be a key, and so far this spring, Savage has looked the part.
"The guy shows up every day prepared," Ryan said. "He goes out, he can really lead the offense and I've been impressed by him."
Savage and his teammates will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Houston Methodist Training Center during the annual minicamp.
