|
HOUSTON -- Looking back, Ryan Mallett's teammates can't help but be impressed. There were certain plays on the Texans' final two drives when left tackle Duane Brown could see him grimace, a hint at the pain he felt as he played through a torn pectoral muscle in his second NFL start. Mallett finally had the chance for which he'd waited three-and-a-half years -- he gave everything he could. "He’s tough, man," Brown said. "He’s tough. You can just tell that by his character. He’s tough. He wants to win. He wants to compete. Like I said, I could tell there was something there towards the end. He didn’t back down at all. He didn’t ease up at all. He showed his fight to even try to get a score on that last drive there. That is just the kind of player that he is and the kind of person that he is. We really respect that." It was clear throughout the Texans 22-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals that Mallett's accuracy was off. He just wasn't playing like the quarterback who led the Texans to a win in his first start, showing the necessary quarterback leadership skills beyond what the Texans had with any of the other three full-time starters in the franchise's history. This time, though, Mallett only completed 21 of his 45 passes for 189 yards. He threw an interception and narrowly missed several more. "The guy, he wanted to win," receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. "You could see it in his eyes. He never showed that he was hurt. He really never let us down on the sideline."
|
