Grossman makes fools of the "experts"
Written by davemundy, Sunday September 06 2009
Well, now we know why Bob McNair didn’t dial my number when he was casting about for a new braintrust after sacking Dom Capers.
When the Texans put in the call to Rex Grossman near the end of the spring, I was among those who had their reservations about the wisdom of the move. After all, I recall publicly prognosticating, Dan Orlovsky was much more familiar with the
Shoe leather has its own unique taste, I have found.
Grossman certainly made his case clear during Friday’s 27-20 win over
There were some pundits who maintained when Grossman was signed that he would eventually take over the team, whether or not starter Matt Schaub manages to stay healthy. He certainly made those folks look good on Friday.
“I was very impressed,” head coach Gary Kubiak was quoted in the post-game media notes. “He knows how to make plays. He was ready to play.
“You just see signs of that during camp whenever he was working that first seven or eight days. Kyle (Shanahan) and I were excited to watch him play during preseason, and (then) of course he has a problem (hamstring injury),” the coach added. “Obviously, he knows what this league's about.”
“I just know I put a pretty good audition out there,” said Grossman, who will play this season for the veterans’ minimum salary—a steal for the Texans. “Yeah, the long touchdown pass definitely made it easier to start feeling good and calm down. As soon as that play happened, everything was good.”
A couple of other guys made it happen when they needed to Friday: safety John Busing and wide receiver Jacoby Jones.
Busing has been primarily a special teams player, but picked off one pass, nearly picked off a second and recovered a fumble Friday.
The performance prompted broadcast color man Spencer Tillman to compare him to Hall of Famer Bill Bates – someone who might not have a lot of natural abilities compared to others, but always seems to be around the ball.
"Well, he had a chance for another pick, too, didn't he?” Kubiak noted. “But he's kind of made plays throughout camp and he's done some good things for Joe (Marciano), and obviously he helped himself again tonight, also."
Also on the ball was Jones, who had been locked in a battle for the fifth wide receiver spot with Darnell Jenkins. Jones has tremendous talent and ability but mental mistakes had the coaching staff considering keeping Jenkins instead.
Jones got an A-plus on his test Friday, scooping in an 87-yard bomb from Grossman, making a second acrobatic grab and finishing his evening with three catches for 148 yards—an astounding 49.3 yards per catch.
"First, I had to find it, and once I found it, I just thought ‘Catch the ball.'” Jones said of his TD catch. “It hit my hand and I just thought, ‘I'm not getting caught; don't get caught.'
"Kyle (Shanahan) thought up a nice call. It was the right defense, so Rex made a heck of a throw and I just did what God gave me (the ability) to do – catch and run."
Two other rookies made an impact for the Texans and continue to make this class of draft picks look like it could rival that 2006 bunch. Tight end James Casey caught Grossman’s second TD, an 11-yarder, and spend a great deal of time at fullback as well. Defensive end Connor Barwin, the second-round pick, continued to impress with his quickness in getting into the offensive backfield.
“Well, I jumped offside the play before,” Casey said of his TD catch, “So obviously, I felt terrible about that, but it ended up working out because then we ran a pass play. Even though it was the preseason, it always feels good to be in the end zone.”
Barwin said the mobility of
“They are guys that can feel the pressure and are hard to sack once you get back there,” he said. “Things are falling into place, and I think we will be ready for the Jets.”
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