Every injury is horrible, but some injuries also having the added bonus of brutally cruel timing.
Welcome to your life, Ryan Mallett.
Ryan Mallett learns that sometimes the universe can hate you
Over his first three NFL seasons Ryan Mallett attempted four meaningful regular-season passes. That tends to happen when you’re Tom Brady’s backup, but there was an annual early-offseason tradition of Mallett’s name surfacing as trade bait.
A deal finally materialized in early September, with the New England Patriots sending Mallett to the Houston Texans. There he joined Bill O’Brien, the former Patriots offensive coordinator turned Texans head coach, and was finally given a chance to start after Ryan Fitzpatrick’s inevitable face plant.
So of course he tore his pectoral during warm-ups prior to his second start. He’ll miss the rest of the season, and he’s yet another reminder that it’s hard to have nice things in the NFL.
Just left Texans dressing room and I’m told Mallett is out for rest of season.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) November 24, 2014
Mallett was in the final year of his contract and is a pending free agent this offseason. So that means the apparent hatred he’s drawn from the football gods affects more than the quarterback himself.
In the short term, the Texans still have some reaching, clawing, praying playoff hopes with a 5-6 record. But that’s only because pretty much the entire AFC is still either in the playoffs or in contention. All but four teams in the conference have at least five wins.
But whatever pipe-dreaming chance the Texans have to leap over five teams will likely evaporate along with Mallett’s season. Which leads us to the long-term problem, which is also sort of a second short-term problem too: who should start the remaining five games?
The answer by default will likely be Fitzpatrick. And soon he will be the wrong answer.
Like every team that owns the first-overall pick each spring, the Texans had many problems. They had to take defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, but that stll left a void at the most important offensive position. Mallett was supposed to finally be a solution after Fitzpatrick did his job as a bridge to something better.
Now Mallett’s single season under contract—you know, the one when he was to be evaluated as the potential starter of the future—is over after three appearances and 75 pass attempts. And many of those can be tossed away because he played Week 12 hurt.
That’s why when Fitzpatrick melts yet again the Texans should quickly turn to rookie Tom Savage. The year will soon be lost anyway, and they need to get a better read on the future while assessing Savage over the final month.
Progress has been made this year in Houston during O’Brien’s first season. But in one critical area the franchise will enter this offseason right where it started a year ago: they desperately need a quarterback.
The Browns’ secondary takes a gut shot
The Cleveland Browns are in the middle of an AFC North division slugfest. Each team is over .500, and thee teams have seven wins.
Amid that muddied mess the Browns will now have to move forward without the league leader in interceptions. Safety Tashaun Gipson tore his MCL in a win Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons, and he’ll now miss the next six-to-eight weeks. It’s possible he could remain active and return for the playoffs, but the Browns would have to a) still make the playoffs and b) win a game or two after that.
Gipson’s league leading six interceptions tells only a partial story of how effective he’s been. He was allowing an opposing passer rating of only 41.9 in coverage, according to Pro Football Focus. And he was a core piece of a defense that’s allowing only 6.5 yards per pass attempt
And now he’s gone.
Andre Smith has likely played his last snap this year, too
We’re still waiting on confirmation, but it appears likely Cincinnati Bengals right tackle Andre Smith will see his season end early too with a “significant triceps tear” suffered Sunday during a win over the Texans.
Smith is inconsistent at best, but the step down to his replacement Marshall Newhouse is a steep one. He’s been given a grade of -13.3 by Pro Football Focus over 278 snaps.
Suddenly an already shaky Andy Dalton is about to see more pressure as he also attempts to navigate the bloody fistfight that is the AFC North.
