Following Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage's 19-for-44 performance against the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Bill O'Brien is making sure his No. 2 option will be ready if called upon.
"Tom's gotten some reps, T.J. (Yates) got reps. I'm not saying it was 50-50, but I'd tell you that T.J. got some good reps," O'Brien said, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. "He got a decent amount. We're just trying to get him back into the fold of running the offense and just gave him a decent amount of reps, not more than a normal No. 2."
Savage threw for just 219 yards at an average of 4.98 yards per attempt with one touchdown pass in his second start of the season.
He was already pulled from a game once this year, getting O'Brien's notoriously quick hook in the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He gave way to rookie Deshaun Watson who proceeded to steal NFL headlines for the next six games, before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in practice.
Yates has spent four of his five seasons with the Texans organization, though just one of those have come in O'Brien's system. He last appeared in four games in 2015, completing 49.1 percent of 57 pass attempts with three touchdowns and one interception.
Josh Johnson, who last played for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2013, was signed Tuesday to replace Matt McGloin as the team's third-string quarterback.
