Yates’ return engagement a 2nd chance to make good
Having a reasonably good memory, plus a selective one, served T.J. Yates well Wednesday when he rejoined the Texans to replace the banished Ryan Mallett as the No. 2 quarterback behind Brian Hoyer.
Yates spent one offseason in coach Bill O’Brien’s offense before being shipped to Atlanta in June 2014.
O’Brien said the Texans’ fifth-round draft choice in 2011 showed sufficient recall of what he had learned the first time around to acquit himself respectably should “God forbid” — Hoyer’s words — Yates have to play against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at NRG Stadium.
Yates, who last threw a pass competitively for the Falcons in their penultimate preseason game Aug. 29 before being released, was sitting on his couch drinking a cup of coffee Tuesday morning when he got the call from Texans general manager Rick Smith saying his once and future team needed him back ASAP.
Things hadn’t ended well for Yates in Houston, but that didn’t make him any less delighted to be returning to the city. ‘Very cool’ to be back
Yates threw some stuff in a suitcase and headed to the airport with wife Amy behind the wheel and trying to stick to the speed limit the best she could.
“I got on a plane right away,” he said. “I’ve been working out, staying in shape, throwing as much as I can. It’s difficult to find receivers … fields to throw on … an indoor facility when it’s raining.
“But I did everything I could to stay in shape and be ready for this opportunity.”
Seven weeks into the season, Yates admitted he was starting to lose hope anybody was going to want him, much less the franchise he helped lead — as an untested rookie — to its first division championship, postseason appearance and playoff victory.
He called being back at NRG Stadium “very cool,” saying: “I’d been here so long. To come back now (and) go back into the same routine, with so many familiar faces … it was good.”
It’s probably for the best that he wasn’t asked about his last two games at NRG.
Yates threw two interceptions, one a 98-yard pick-six, against St. Louis in the only audition former Texans coach Gary Kubiak gave him to replace the free-falling Matt Schaub six weeks into the 2013 season. Case Keenum started thereafter. Then, when Yates returned with the Falcons in the third week of the 2014 preseason, he had two more passes intercepted, including another pick-six.
But neither the Texans nor Yates is in a position to quibble about his checkered past with the team’s present in such chaos. Remembers the offense
Once O’Brien bounced Mallett for his latest misdeed, missing the team’s weekend flight to Miami, the options were excruciatingly few. At least Yates had experienced the offense during OTAs and minicamps, although his comprehension and/or execution hadn’t sufficiently impressed O’Brien. Yates was going to be waived outright when the Falcons stepped in and offered linebacker Akeem Dent for him.
“Every year is different,” O’Brien said. “We released him last year, but that was last year. The first thing about T.J. is he’s a very bright guy. He’s a good teammate. He’s good in the locker room.
“He had very good recall of our offense last night when he came in here. He was able to go out there today and operate it. He actually made some really nice throws today. We have respect for T.J., and we’re glad that he’s here.”
Hoyer has known Yates since they served as counselors and roomed together at the Manning Passing Academy when they were college quarterbacks. They have remained friends.
“He’s a good guy,” Hoyer said. “He’s going to ask a lot of questions, and I’ve got to be there to give him the answers. It’s important for the team for me to have him ready if, God forbid, something does happen.”