http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...s-Mallett-Hoyer-begin-friendly-QB-6295063.php
Bolded in red. Discuss.
Bill O'Brien has a great sense of humor. Need proof? Look at how different the two guys are whom he chose to duke it out for the Texans' starting quarterback job in 2015.
Being the oddest of couples and the most polar of opposites in terms of their appearance, attitude and physical attributes, Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer do make a funny Mutt and Jeff pairing. O'Brien obviously believes there's more than one way to skin a Colt, a Titan or a Jaguar.
The 6-6 Mallett, a brash, cocksure country boy from Texarkana, is the very definition of gangly, and he can flat fling a football through the proverbial barn door. Unless, of course, he misses the barn altogether, which does happen on occasion. A short flat pass from Mallett to Jaelen Strong during the team's first OTA session this week drilled the startled rookie receiver squarely in the hands, then ricocheted 50 feet in the opposite direction.
While the 6-3 Hoyer is only 3 inches shorter, he looks markedly smaller standing next to his teammate. Also, in interviews, he comes across as almost urbane, expressing himself with a professorial eloquence (a shaved head and neatly trimmed beard add to the appearance). He offers insight, analysis and introspection in equal parts. And while he doesn't fire bullets, he usually throws bull's-eyes.
Apples and oranges, these guys.
But, in their own distinct ways, they're chasing the same prize again, except with far higher stakes. When they competed as New England Patriots in 2011 - O'Brien was their offensive coordinator - the winner, Hoyer, could tell folks he was Tom Brady's understudy. The winner in Houston gets handed the keys to the franchise.
Based on their history, the competition will be more friendly than fierce. Opposites do attract. Mallett called being reunited on the practice field and in the meeting room with Hoyer, who signed with the Texans as a free agent in March, "just like old times. We haven't missed a step. He's come in here and he's worked hard, and I'm trying to do the same."
O'Brien insists it's a "may-the-best-man-win" dynamic, and there's no reason to question the coach's sincerity.
Nonetheless, the coach probably would prefer that Mallett, who held the job briefly last season before being injured in a freak weight-room mishap, seize the moment because he's younger and stronger with, arguably, far more upside potential. But Hoyer knows all about having the deck stacked against him, having dealt with Johnny Manziel in Cleveland last season.
It's old hat for Hoyer
Battling for the starting job with "Hard Knocks" for a backdrop will be a lark compared with coping with Johnny Football hysteria.
"I've been through it before, so I'm not going to let it affect me," Hoyer said. "I'll just be myself and really focus on those things that I can control."
Although Hoyer has been out of O'Brien's offense since 2011, spending a season with both Pittsburgh and Arizona before playing with his hometown Browns in 2013-14, he said his retention is good and the fundamental principles of the system remain unchanged.
"I felt real comfortable out there; I thought it went well," he said after the first OTA. "There were a few new concepts, some new terminology, but it wasn't much. It really is the same offense, and it's a great offense."
It's one that requires discipline, careful calibrations and football smarts.
Mallett has had his detractors on each count at different junctures in his career, but nobody can claim he didn't have a firm grip on the reins when he made his first NFL start last fall, beating Hoyer and the Browns in Cleveland. But he suffered a torn pectoral muscle lifting the next day, then tried to play through the pain the next Sunday against Cincinnati, with predictably abysmal results.
He has healed up fine. Ask Strong, who's still looking for a couple of his fingers.
"I was ready to go," said Mallett, who was acquired in a trade with the Patriots after training camp last summer to be Ryan Fitzpatrick's backup. "It felt like I haven't played ball in a while, so it was good to go out there and go 11-on-11, not just install plays and run with the offense. It was fun to be out there with the guys. It's back to work, (time to get) ready for the season.
"We're starting to form a foundation now."
Mallett oozes confidence
A reporter pointed out how settled under center Mallett appeared during the practice and how sure of himself he sounded afterward.
"Come on," he said, "I've never lacked for confidence. I felt good out there. I felt in control at the line and with the guys."
Hoyer suggested mastering O'Brien's scheme "is 30 percent physical and 70 percent mental."
"You can be the most physically talented quarterback there is, but if you don't know where to go with the ball, you're going to be lost," Hoyer said. "The mental part is by far the most important part of it. And it really requires you to be accurate. So footwork and throwing motion matter a lot. You have to get your body in position to make the right throws."
Mallett proved, at least for a single afternoon in 2014 - at Hoyer's expense - he's up to the task, no matter how much intellect or precision is required. Hoyer, in turn, has yet to prove anything as a Texan.
"For me, it's about getting back into the system with new guys," Hoyer said. "This is the time to learn your personnel and teammates, then you regroup heading into training camp with all those things kind of resolved.
"You try to get better every day as far as communicating, being a leader. Obviously at quarterback, that's kind of a big part of the job. Just getting everybody lined up (correctly), those type of things are huge right now.
"You try to eliminate pre-snap mistakes. The quarterback is responsible for a lot of that. I think also building (relationships) with the receivers, so you know who you're throwing to and you know what receivers are good at 'in' cuts, 'out' cuts. This is the time to learn."
Game on.
Bolded in red. Discuss.
