Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien refused to name his starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers, and said on Monday he will not make any announcement about the starter this week.
Brian Hoyer, the starter in the opener, was replaced by Ryan Mallett during Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
O’Brien said he already knows who the starting quarterback will be but wants to keep it a secret as long as possible.
“Every decision we make will be in the best interest of the team, no matter which position,” O’Brien said. “Whatever decision that is made, whoever starts the game against Carolina, it’ll be in the best interest of the team.”
Hoyer said he feels like he “let this whole entire organization down” after the 27-20 loss to the Chiefs.
O’Brien went with Mallett after Hoyer turned the ball over twice inside Houston’s 15-yard line and finished 18-of-34 passing for 236 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Hoyer also lost a fumble and was sacked four times.
Hoyer did not question O’Brien’s decision to replace him during Sunday’s game.
“That’s coach’s decision, and I can see why he did that,” Hoyer said. “It couldn’t have gone any worse, you know what I mean. Obviously, I feel terrible. I feel like I let this whole entire organization down. It just went from bad to worse. I really just couldn’t fight back. That’s coach O’Brien’s decision. I respect the hell out of him and whatever he feels is best for the team I think that’s what he will do and we’ll just see where it goes.”
Hoyer heard boos throughout the afternoon, and the home crowd began chanting “Mallett! Mallett!” after the starter was called for intentional grounding in the fourth quarter.
“It just started bad,” Hoyer said. “Poor execution, lack of communication and you never want to come out and start the game that way. I think that was bad. There were some good drives. There were times where we were able to put the foot on the pedal and get things going. The other times, they just sputtered out and you can’t have that.”
Mallett came in and completed 8 of 13 for 98 yards and a touchdown and two-point conversion pass.
“I’m going to prepare every week like the starter, whether that’s the case or not,” Mallett said when asked whether he thought he would start against the Panthers. “That’s the only thing I can do to help this football team win games. That’s why I’m here. That’s all I care about.”
O’Brien was asked after the game if starting running back Arian Foster would be able to play in Week 2.
“No,” O’Brien said.
Foster suffered a torn groin on Aug. 3 and underwent surgery four days later, missing all four preseason games.