Texans_Chick
Utopian Dreamer
This is a great article:
Link (apologies for the awful pun, it ain't mine) "NFL report: Texans giving Carr a tune-up"
Link (apologies for the awful pun, it ain't mine) "NFL report: Texans giving Carr a tune-up"
They could have sacked Houston Texans quarterback David Carr. It's been done a few times before.
Carr admits so himself. Incoming Texans coach Gary Kubiak had no allegiances. "A new coach can do whatever he wants," Carr says. "He has built-in excuses for starting over."
The NFL legacy of Carr, the No. 1 overall pick in 2002 and the first draft pick in Texans history, has been the number of times opponents have dropped him. As a rookie he was sacked an NFL-record 76 times. In 59 career starts, he's been sacked 208 times, an average of 3½ a game. "There's definitely an art to taking a sack," he says, rattling off two basic rules. "Don't give them your shoulder. And don't give them your chin."
But Kubiak, a former NFL quarterback, and offensive coordinator Troy Calhoun want to change all that. They're implementing a more Carr-friendly West Coast attack that they hope will reveal the talent he flashed at Fresno State, where as a senior he led the nation in passing yardage (4,308) and touchdown passes (42).
"David hasn't performed to his ability yet," owner Bob McNair says. "I felt that with Gary, he could really elevate David's performance. I think that was the deciding factor (in hiring Kubiak)."
Everybody knows about Kubiak's pedigree. In Denver he played behind, and later coached, John Elway. He worked with Steve Young in San Francisco. He has three Super Bowl rings. Now he's taking an active role in Carr's development and on game day he'll call the plays. But the Texans believe they have a secret weapon in Calhoun.
A former Air Force quarterback, Calhoun turned heads as offensive coordinator at Wake Forest (2001-02). In 2002, the Demon Deacons, a traditionally lower-echelon Atlantic Coast Conference team, led the league in total offense. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan brought him to Denver as a defensive assistant just to get him in the fold. A year later, in 2004, he became an offensive assistant.
"Troy and I were side by side in the press box the last two years in Denver," Kubiak says. "Every word out of my mouth, he heard. He was my right-hand man right there on game day, every day. I have tremendous confidence in him."
Carr compares Calhoun's expertise to that of his college coach, Jeff Tedford. "The first time I met him, I went home with a headache," Carr says. "We come for the 6:30 a.m. meetings. He says, 'Good morning, how ya doing,' then we're into it. You better have your caffeine because he's firing questions from the minute you get in there 'til the minute you leave. I can't say the same thing about other coaches I've had."
Calhoun might pop Carr with a play the Texans haven't run in three weeks, just to see how much he's retained. Or he might ask Carr what the left tackle is supposed to do on a certain play.
"We're learning what everybody does in this offense, and it makes everyone accountable for their own spot," Carr says. "Pretty much, when you're in an offensive meeting with these guys, everyone knows what you're supposed to be doing as a quarterback. Everybody knows what (wide receiver) Andre Johnson is supposed to be doing on this play. So if you're not doing your job, it's wide open. You can't say, behind closed doors, 'Well, maybe it was the offensive line's fault here.' "