HOUSTON -- Ryan Mallett was still seething Tuesday, a day after Brian Hoyer beat him out to earn the Houston Texans' starting quarterback job.
"Am I disappointed? Yeah," said Mallett, a former Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback. "Angry? Little bit. Thought I did enough to deserve the job. But it was not seen that way, so I'll do what's best for the team."
Coach Bill O'Brien, who announced the decision Monday, said he wouldn't expect Mallett to be happy about losing the starter's job.
"When you name a starter and the other guy happens to be the No. 2 guy, that guy's not going to be happy, especially if he's a competitor," O'Brien said. "That's what you want. You don't want a guy jumping around doing back-springs when he gets named the backup."
The Texans played four quarterbacks last season because of injuries. Mallett, who started two games last season before a season-ending pectoral injury, said he believes he will get a chance to play.
"I'm just going to wait until my turn gets called," said Mallett, who is under contract through 2016. "At some point it's going to happen this year."
Mallett had just finished practice when he spoke Tuesday. His 6-6 frame looked tense as he grabbed the sides of the podium as he spoke.
"I thought I had a pretty good camp," Mallett said. "I thought I was consistent in my completion percentage every day. Didn't turn the ball over. Three incompletions so far in the preseason, so I thought I was playing all right."
Aside from his two starts last season, Mallett has been a backup his entire career. He spent three years behind Tom Brady in New England before joining the Texans last August.
He said felt much more comfortable in this offense this season after having an entire year to work on it and lamented being relegated to second string again.
"I wanted this job more than anything," he said.
Mallett probably won't get over the sting of this decision for a while. For now, all he can do is stay focused and continue to prepare in case he gets a chance to play.
"I don't know what else to do but work my a** off," he said. "So that's what I'm going to keep doing."
Sports on 08/26/2015