HOUSTON (AP) – Ryan Fitzpatrick is getting a second chance to be Houston’s quarterback on Sunday at Tennessee with Ryan Mallett out for the season with a chest injury.
“There’s a lot of times you don’t have that opportunity,” Fitzpatrick said. “Something was taken away from me and I didn’t know if I’d get a chance to go out there and play again. So (there’s a) renewed sense of excitement and energy.”
Coach Bill O’Brien said Mallett has a chest injury and that they weren’t sure if he would need surgery when the Texans placed him on season-ending injured reserve on Wednesday.
Fitzpatrick started the first nine games before being benched during the bye week in favor of Mallett. Mallett went 1-1 as the starter.
O’Brien said he wasn’t sure exactly when Mallett was injured, but it was clear there was something wrong with the quarterback in a loss to the Bengals on Sunday when he routinely overthrew receivers.