Bill O'Brien On Ryan Mallett Missing Practice: "It Was Personal"

Hopefully Ryan Mallett just needed the day off to attend to some personal matters.  On the other hand, the timing of this looks a bit suspicious, given that Bill O'Brien announced Brian Hoyer as the starting quarterback just a few days ago.  In his press conference on Tuesday, Mallett was visibly upset and stated that he did not agree with the decision.

Are things beginning to unravel between Mallett and O'Brien?

Bill O'Brien on Mallett "That's between Ryan and I. That's a personal thing between Ryan and I."

— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) August 27, 2015

Ryan Mallett was not at practice today. O'Brien: "That's between Ryan and I. It's a personal issue." #Texans

— Deepi Sidhu (@DeepSlant) August 27, 2015

Bill O'Brien says Ryan Mallett's absence from practice is a personal issue and he expects Mallett back at workout tomorrow.

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 27, 2015

BOB if Mallett will return tomorrow, he hesitated but said yes. Said all 3 QBs will play vs. Saints.

— Dale Robertson (@sportywineguy) August 27, 2015

O'Brien had said all 3 QBs would play Sunday. He said that is still his plan today but he reserves the right to change his mind. #Texans

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) August 27, 2015

The Mallett mystery . . . The plot thickens. BOB didn't try to pass it off as being nothing important, which he could easily have.

— Dale Robertson (@sportywineguy) August 27, 2015

The Texans fielded four quarterbacks in 2014 due to performance and injury issues.  They really need all three of these quarterbacks for the 2015 season, so let's hope this isn't something that leads to Mallett's departure from the team.

Hopefully it was just a day off for personal reasons, but it sure looks like it might be more than that.  If it is, will the "Hard Knocks" team capture all the potential drama unfolding with the Houston Texans?

Image caption reference: If there is something more to this, I envision Mallett going off like John Favreau as Chef Carl Casper in the movie "Chef."

"You're not getting to me!"