Tom Savage Will Start Texans’ Preseason Opener

The Houston Texans are only two days away from going from “talkin’ about practice” to talking about a real-live football game. The game doesn’t count, but no matter.

One of the questions entering the Texans’ upcoming matchup with the Carolina Panthers was who would start for the Texans at quarterback? To what should be to the surprise of no one, Bill O’Brien officially named Tom Savage the starter today for the preseason opener on Wednesday night.

O’Brien said after Monday’s practice:

“Tom (Savage) is going to start the game. Deshaun (Watson) will play and Brandon (Weeden) will play. I’m not trying to – you have no idea how the game’s going to play out. You know what I mean? How long is this drive? How long is that drive? You have to play it by ear relative to how the game goes. But, all three quarterbacks will play in the game.”

And O’Brien has already set the expectations for Savage in his first start:

“Good operation of the offense. Take care of the football. Getting in and out of the huddle quickly. Just an overall – from all three of those guys, from all three of them – just a clean game, a clean operation. Everybody on the same page and see if we can score some points.”

Savage, 27, enters his third season with the Texans. He started camp as the de facto starter with the departure of Brock Osweiler and rookie Deshaun Watson still learning the position at the NFL level. Savage has appeared in three games with the Texans (including two starts), amassing 461 yards on 63% passing (46-73) in 2017.

Savage was sidelined before the Texans; playoff run last season by a concussion and hopes to get back on track in 2017. He isn’t letting the fact he is the starter change his mindset:

“The last four years I’ve been here that’s kind of the approach I’ve taken into every single game. That’s going to continue.”