It's been a long week for Ryan Mallet, though the just-released Texans quarterback is presumably well rested. Traded from New England to Houston before the 2014 season, Mallett has been mostly underwhelming, unable to beat out Brian Hoyer this August only to get a second chance after Hoyer flopped in the season opener.
But questionable decision-making -- both on and off the field -- doomed Mallett, and the last straw came when he missed the team flight to Miami and had to hop a commercial flight. His excuse: he got caught up in traffic. Never mind that the 52 other players and countless Texans' staff members made it on time.
It was the second documented case of Mallett being late. He missed practice on Aug. 27 because he overslept.
But now that Mallet is gone, a clearer picture is coming into focus, one that paints the quarterback as chronically tardy, which is one of the worst traits you can have in a guy supposed to be a team leader.
According to the Houston Chronicle's Aaron Wilson, the Texans put up with Mallet for months. "They endured him being late for a team bus in Richmond, Va., when the team was there for joint practices with Washington with a team official having to go to his hotel room to wake him up," Wilson wrote. "Then [he] overslept for a training camp practice days after Brian Hoyer was named the starter. Mallett had been fined several times."
"Ryan clearly just didn't get it," one Texans player, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Wilson. "How can you miss the flight? That's ridiculous and disrespectful to just not show up when everyone else is here ready to go.
"That makes you question whether he cared at all about what we're trying to do, or what kind of problems he's dealing with. He's immature."
A former Texans teammate added: "With him being late so much and how he acted sometimes, it definitely makes you wonder what's going on with him. It makes you worry about him. Obviously, something like this makes it tough for him to get on with another team. He's got to make some changes or his football career will be over."
On Wednesday, embattled coach Bill O'Brien spoke about why the team decided to part ways with Mallett, a former third-round pick.
"We don't have a lot of rules, but one rule we do have is we want guys to be on time," O'Brien said. "Now we're not talking about starting a meeting 15 minutes early. If the meeting is supposed to start at 8 o'clock, then be there at 8 o'clock, be there at 7:59 ready to go.
"The way we deal with those issues when they're not here on time, it's dealt with internally. If it's something that happens time and time again, then the message isn't getting through. Then, we have to make decisions in that regard, too."
For now, Mallett remains out of work. The Texans (2-5) host the Titans (1-5) on Sunday. Hoyer and just-resigned T.J. Yates will be the quarterbacks.
