Around The NFL: Ryan Fitzpatrick Benched In Houston, Ryan Mallett Named Starter

In the knee-jerk reaction culture that is engrained in the NFL, there are few jobs that are secure for an extended period of time. Save for a few quarterbacks and even less coaches, every job is open to scrutiny and examination. The latest example of quick-trigger movement has gone down in Houston, where multiple sources claim that a change at quarterback has been made.

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien has injected some respectability back into the club after a deplorable 2013 campaign. O'Brien was one of the more sought after coaching names on the market last offseason because of his work as head coach at Penn State, as well as an offensive coordinator in New England with the Patriots. He has the club at a somewhat-surprising 4-5 and in second place in the AFC South, making the move from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Ryan Mallett an interesting one.

A complete shake-up of the position was done this offseason, as both Fitzpatrick and Mallett were offseason acquisitions along with rookie Tom Savage. Fitzpatrick hasn't necessarily played terrible football, throwing more touchdowns (11) than interceptions (8), and is in the middle-of-the-NFL-pack in passing yards with 1,960.

Nevertheless, O'Brien likely wants fewer turnovers to go with the resurgent running game headed by Arian Foster. He also wants to see what he has in his pet project. Mallett was with O'Brien in New England after a free-fall in the 2011 draft. It was also rumored that Bengals owner Mike Brown coveted Mallett over current starter Andy Dalton that year, but was talked into the youngster out of TCU by the coaching staff.

The Bengals face the Texans in Week 12 on November 23rd and it's likely that Mallett will be the quarterback who they'll be facing, barring something unforeseen.