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Bill O'Brien Clarifies His Working Relationship With General Manager Rick Smith: "It's A Partnership"

Bill O'Brien took to the podium today and fielded questions after the tumultuous aftermath of the blowout in Miami and the release of Ryan Mallett.

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There's been a lot of face-palming, groan-inducing, noose-tightening moments so far this season.  Too many to count. However bad the team may be on the field, finding out that Bill O'Brien tried to release Ryan Mallett after the QB missed the team flight to Miami, only to be vetoed by general manager Rick Smith, is just the worst.

Brian T. Smith's report on the subject was likely exaggerated a bit, but no fan wants to hear that amidst an immensely disappointing season, the two men in charge aren't on the same page as to how to correct it.

So O'Brien addressed this specifically in today's presser:

And partnerships naturally include disagreements:

It's all detailed in his contract, after all:

So the reported "discord" between him and Smith was just part of their working relationship:

So that settles that! Everything should be smooth sailing from here on out, right? RIGHT?

Looking back, it probably was prudent of Smith stepping in and preventing O'Brien from playing with just one active quarterback in an NFL game. O'Brien's demeanor suggests that emotion plays a big part of his decision-making; if Brian Hoyer had gotten injured last Sunday, you can bet O'Brien would have left Mallett on the sideline in favor of punter Shane Lechler, just to prove a point.

If this "partnership" continues past this season, it'll be interesting to see if the duo can mesh their conflicting styles: Smith's cold calculation (as evidenced by his placement of Mike Mohamed on IR despite him relatively close to being healthy) versus O'Brien's hot-headedness.

We'll have to wait and see. It's certainly more entertaining than watching the actual games, anyway.

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