The Houston Texans appear to have made a decision at starting quarterback, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported Tuesday that Deshaun Watson will get the start Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
While the club has yet to make it official, the agent of Week 1 starter Tom Savage weighed in Wednesday, expressing his displeasure with the decision to pull his client during Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"I'm still trying to figure this out ... 31 plays and you're getting benched?" Neil Schwartz told Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. "It makes no sense."
Many expected Watson to automatically claim the starter's role after the former Clemson star was taken by the Texans with the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. That didn't materialize in training camp or preseason, as Savage won out over the highly touted rookie. Schwartz took issue with such a quick hook after his client was named the No. 1 option heading into Sunday.
"Tom earned the right to be the starter," Schwartz said. "It wasn't given to him. And he's worked hard every day in training camp and the exhibition season to be the starter - on the field and off the field - to maintain a leadership role. After 31 plays you bench him? I have an issue."
Schwartz wasn't done there, going into great detail about his shock that Savage was yanked so quickly in the proceedings.
"I watched all 31 plays, because that was the extent of what Tom saw in the first half," Schwartz said. "I can't figure out why (Bill O'Brien) is benching Tom. I went through every single play and I even went one step further. I asked two different NFL personnel people (or) coaches on two separate teams to evaluate and break down their film to see if I was missing something. He went 7-for-13 ... 12 of the 13 balls touched receivers' hands. The only ball that didn't was the strip-sack fumble that they called incomplete (upon replay). Seven were completions, five were drops."
After the Texans allowed an incredible 10 sacks to the Jaguars on Sunday, it would make sense that the mobile Watson would get the nod until the club fixes its offensive line issues. That could be a while, however, as star tackle Duane Brown continues his contract holdout.
Regardless, it probably wouldn't be a shock to see both quarterbacks in some capacity Thursday against the Bengals.
