Ryan Fitzpatrick is back.

The heavily bearded quarterback? Not exactly.

Fitzpatrick was the Texans’ Weeks 1-9 starter and officially regained his role Wednesday, taking over for an injured Ryan Mallett.

Fitzpatrick, 32, was his normal, deadpanned-self while asked multiple questions about again being the Texans’ No. 1. But his trademark look had changed, with Fitzpatrick’s once-overly bushy beard trimmed to a respectable length.

“I’m kind of mad you guys didn’t tell me I looked like that,” he joked at NRG Stadium. “I finally had some time to look in the mirror and thought it was disgusting. Decided to trim it down a bit.”

Why the change?

Fitzpatrick knew he’d get a question about his trim timing in with his unexpected Week 13 promotion. But his sharpened appearance was simply a reaction to having a little too much food sticking near his face.

“It was more just me getting tired with having to pick corn out of it,” said Fitzpatrick, who has completed 61.8 percent of his passes this season for 11 touchdowns, eight interceptions and an 87.1 rating. “When I eat pancakes in the morning with the syrup and stuff, it would be there for days. My wife asks me, ‘Did you have pancakes this morning?’ ‘No, it was four days ago.’ No more of those questions, which will be good.”

Bill O’Brien never cared what Fitzpatrick looked like. The first-year coach just wanted an intelligent quarterback who could run his complex system to perfection. Fitzpatrick went 4-5 as a starter and put up career numbers in passer rating (87.1) and yards per attempt (7.7). But the Texans’ offense was often too slow and inconsistent under the 10th-year pro, who was benched following a Week 9 home loss to Philadelphia after O’Brien acknowledged he was searching for a “spark.”

With Mallett lost for the season, a resilient quarterback O’Brien initially handpicked to lead the 2014 Texans will get another chance to prove himself in the NFL. Four of the Texans’ final five games are winnable on paper – including three against AFC South teams Tennessee and Jacksonville, who have a combined 3-19 record – and Fitzpatrick has consistently found a way to rise to the top during his crisscrossed career.

“He’s been fine,” O’Brien said. “He had a good practice (Wednesday) and he’s looking forward to playing against Tennessee.”

Twitter: ChronBrianSmith