David Carr: Brock Osweiler wasn't given enough time by Texans coach Bill O'Brien

A few days after Brock Osweiler became the latest member of the Texans Quarterbacks Alumni Association, he met up in Arizona with the charter member of the group, NFL Network analyst David Carr, at Kurt Warner's benefit touch football game.

Even though their career arcs in Houston had some similarities, the main difference was time. Carr had five years to sink, swim and run for his life behind the Texans' patchwork offensive line. Osweiler had less than a year to absorb an offensive system with which he was not familiar, and that wasn't enough time.

"Gary Kubiak's system in Denver was so different," Carr said. "It was completely different than what Bill (O'Brien) was asking him to do in Houston with the option routes and young receivers. There wasn't enough time.

"I look at the guys they've had in Houston (during O'Brien's tenure) and they haven't been given a lot of time. I don't know how you get much continuity at the positon by rotating guys in so much, especially with the offense you're running. There is a comfort level involved, and you can't match that in 10 months."

Carr declined to go into word-for-word details of his conversation with Osweiler but said it matched his perceptions of what happened.

"It was a short stint, and Brock didn't play his best," Carr said. "And there was not a lot of flexibility for Bill to change or adapt to what Brock was comfortable with. A lot of coaches are like that. They won't change their system. But when you pay somebody that much money, you want to have an open conversation, and that wasn't going to be the case."

And so now it's time for another quarterback in Houston who will face the same challenges as Osweiler. But, as Carr noted, coaches and other players must step it up as well.



Click through the gallery for a ranking of Texans quarterbacks by season. David Carr, the Texans' first franchise quarterback hopeful who went bust, recently met with fellow ex-Houston QB Brock Osweiler.

Click through the gallery for a ranking of Texans quarterbacks by season. David Carr, the Texans' first franchise quarterback hopeful who went bust, recently met with fellow ex-Houston QB Brock Osweiler. Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close David Carr: Brock Osweiler wasn't given enough time by Texans coach Bill O'Brien 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

"There is nothing wrong with Bill's system. The Patriots have been successful using it," Carr said. "But what the Patriots have that the Texans don't have is a quarterback with a ton of experience. And the guys who play wide receiver for the Patriots, they get it.

"If you took the Texans' wide receivers and the Patriots' wide receivers to a park and picked teams based on speed and ability and athleticism, I would pick every one of the Texans' receivers. But for whatever reason, the Patriots' receivers get it. There is a continuity and an understanding of the offense, and that is what Bill is trying to get in Houston.

"Bill's system works, and I don't think he's coaching it poorly. But in the times we live, it's going to be difficult for him to have enough patience to stick with one guy. And it's not just the quarterback. It's the combination of quarterback and receiver. Julian Edelman practically lives with (Brady) during the offseason. They go through game situations three times a week. How many times did Brock do that? Probably never."

As was the case with Carr, Houston fans celebrated when Osweiler came to town, and they probably celebrated even harder when he left. That's not an easy thing to take, Carr said, but it's part of the job.

"We're mercenaries at this point," he said. "The age when I grew up and my grandfather was watching Roger Staubach play with the Cowboys or I watched Troy Aikman play for the Cowboys, you don't do that anymore unless you're Tom Brady. You're moving around. It's the day and age in which we live. You don't get a lot of time to prove yourself."