If the team implodes around Mallet, I'm afraid he will lose games as well. Will people then view him as a failure, or more sensibly focus on the shortcomings of the team around him. To expect any QB to overcome near record team breakdowns in back to back games is not very sensible. There are plenty of things this team needs to fix before we can properly assess the performance of any QB.
Looking toward the future, they need to find out what they have in Mallet so they can either sign him as the QB going ahead or know what their number one priority should be in the off-season.
I 'expect' nothing from this year's team, and certainly would not expect anything from Mallet other than to see his potential.
I always though it was a rebuild year myself, so to characterize "grasping at straws with Fitz" is inaccurate.
Grasping at straws because I think this coaching staff truly believes that they can make the playoffs. While we perceive it as a rebuild, I get the vibe that they do not.
I thought it was a given to everyone that since this IS a rebuilding year, Fitz is nothing more than a caretaker QB until the right one comes along. And the right one is NOT currently on the team.
Again, I think the folks at Kirby do not perceive it as such, even with McNair saying it is not a rebuild.
And how do we
know that the right one is not on the roster when they are not giving Mallet a chance?
Maybe they see enough in practice, so that is an unknown, but with O'Brien's recent comments to the media that Mallet
will play this season, I think they are still evaluating him at this point. Those are the head coach's words to an NFL reporter, so they appear to be prepping to give him a chance at some point. When is that point? Probably when the team is no longer in playoff contention.
The only way OB even considers putting Mallett in is if Fitz gets hurt. And you can feel about Fitz any way you wish, but he has proven to very durable, unlike that fragile POS Clowney, so I wouldn't count on it.
It is not about how I feel about Fitzpatrick, but about what he is and has always been for a decade.
This is his fifth team in 10 seasons. What does that say to you? Always everyone else's fault but not his? That's not how this league works.
Okay, so Fitz has a lot of heart, is smart, and now durable. What is missing is the part where he's a consistent QB who can carry this team when they shoot themselves int he foot. He tends to help reload the gun so they can shoot the other foot.
I don't understand all this clammoring for Mallet. It's like everyone has forgotten that there was a reason why New England dumped him.
My 'clamoring' is merely to see what he is about so we have an idea going into the 2015 off-season. I do not expect anything from him, because he is an unknown entity right now.
NE dumped him because they have Brady and Mallet was a backup with one season left on his contract. Get something/anything for him while they can sort of thing. It is their M.O. for as long as they have had Brady.
I really couldn't GAS whether Mallet plays any this season--he's not the long-term answer--so long as they don't do this.
The long-term answer is not on the roster at this point.
Unfortunately, the Texans are capable of making such a decision. That is my only concern, not for/against Mallet, but just to see if he's worth keeping on the roster in 2015.