Ryan Mallet was on the sideline while the Texans were getting beaten by the Miami Dolphins 44-26 on Sunday but he wouldn’t have if coach Bill O’Brien had his way. According to the Houston Chronicle, the hard nosed Coach O’Brien wanted Ryan Mallet cut from the team after missing the team flight to Miami due to “traffic”. While O’Brien wanted to cut Mallet, Texans GM Rick Smith vetoed that decision due to the fact that the 2-4 Texans, at the time, were in a position to hopefully salvage their season and needed a capable backup for Brian Hoyer. The Texans ended up losing big which may very well be the nail in the coffin for the Texans season who are going into a bye week now 2-5 and Mallet may very well end up without a job when it’s all said and done.
It makes sense that Smith wanted to have a backup in line for Hoyer in case he got injured and with the bye week coming they could take the time to ultimately decide on Mallet’s future with the Texans. O’Brien also had the right idea to show zero tolerance. It doesn’t look good when you have a coach and GM at odds on personnel decisions. It makes the coach look weak and players see that. With the Texans season pretty much dead in the water, O’Brien needs to show that he is still in charge.