Mallett delivers strong showing in Texans' third game
By Aaron Wilson
August 30, 2015 Updated: August 30, 2015 11:25pm
NEW ORLEANS - Mirroring the pattern of how his rocky week unfolded, Texans backup quarterback Ryan Mallett gamely rallied Sunday afternoon following a rough start.
Mallett famously overslept and missed practice Thursday, days after Brian Hoyer had been named the starter.
The unexcused absence drew the ire of Texans coach Bill O'Brien. Mallett returned later Thursday for meetings in advance of a sharp practice performance Friday that included touchdown passes.
That foreshadowed how Mallett performed in a 27-13 preseason win over the Saints on Sunday at the Superdome as the former New England Patriots backup overcame a shaky second quarter by upgrading his passing after halftime.
Mallett was just 3-of-9 passing for 15 yards in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Griffin overturned following an instant-replay review.
But Mallett was 6-of-8 in the third quarter for 62 yards and a 6-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Jaelen Strong.
The short scoring pass to Strong represented Mallett's first touchdown pass of the preseason.
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Getting in a groove
"Yeah, Ryan's a competitive guy," Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. "He's going to come back on the sideline and get those mistakes corrected. He knows this offense like the back of his hand. It didn't surprise me that he came back out and showed out."
Mallett finished the game 9-of-17 for 77 yards with no interceptions for an 84.7 passer rating before being replaced by third-string quarterback Tom Savage.
"I finally got into a little groove," Mallett said. "I was able to play a little pitch-and-catch with my guys.
"It feels good to get into that groove with those guys, seeing how the preseason went."
Mallett went three-and-out in each of the first two drives he directed in relief of starter Brian Hoyer, who comparatively had a smooth game.
Mallett was operating with difficult field position. His first drive began at the Texans' 2-yard line. His second drive started at the Texans' 10-yard line.
"He was backed up on one, and the other one, I think he was backed up pretty deep in his own territory," O'Brien said of Mallett. "That's part of it, too, doing a good job on third down there.
"I think both guys, again, moved the ball. I feel very good about our quarterback position."
Finishing well
Mallett began to warm up in the final minutes of the first half when he got the Texans into scoring position and delivered a strike to a diving Griffin only for the tight end to trap the football against the artificial turf.
"I don't think we had to shake off anything," Mallett said. "We were backed up. We were trying to get some room to get better field position.
"In the second half, we came out and played a little bit better and moved the ball.
"I felt real good out there and I finally had a chance to play a little bit and get into a good rhythm"
The opening minutes of the third quarter were punctuated by Mallett leading a long scoring drive, a 16-play, 80-yard drive that lasted seven minutes, 27 seconds.
During that drive, Mallett completed passes of 13 yards to wide receiver Keshawn Martin, 17 yards to tight end Anthony Denham and 14 yards to Strong prior to finding the third-round draft pick from 6 yards out over the middle.
"It felt real good to get into a rhythm with all those guys and move the ball," Mallett said. "That one long drive was great to start off the third quarter.