Ryan Mallett will start the Texans second preseason game against the Denver Broncos, head coach Bill O'Brien announced Saturday night.
Brian Hoyer replaced his helmet with a ball cap on the sideline after scoring on the Texans opening drive in the Texans preseason opener against San Francisco. The plan will be a similar one for Mallett on Saturday.
"Brian, in that instance there, if we had gone three-and-out in the first series, he probably would have gone back in and played some more, but because we drove the ball down and scored, that was the plan if we did that," O'Brien said after the Texans 23-10 win over the 49ers. "Next week, the plan will be the reverse of that. Mallett will start the game against Denver and we'll go from there."
O'Brien wants to see consistency from the quarterback position, heading into the second week of preseason. Hoyer started in the preseason opener for just one offensive series which resulted in a touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts III and successful two-point conversion. Mallett took over for the remainder of the first half, completing 10-of-11 passes for 90 yards and a 100.8 passer rating.
"I just got to get in the right place, right run place, throw the ball to the right guy when it's called for on different coverages, move the ball, get first downs, not a lot of three-and-outs, just moving the ball, scoring points," Mallett said. "That's what he's talking about."
Not only will Mallett start, he will have a chance to play with the other Texans offensive starters against the Broncos.
"I can't wait," Mallett said. "We've got a week of practice we've got to get better at first. We'll look ahead that but we started off on the right foot and we have to build off on that. We can't take a step back and go that way."
View photos from the 49ers-Texans game at NRG Stadium on August 15th.
