Texans owner demands more from Brock Osweiler: ‘He needs to step up’

Houston Texans owner Bob McNair is under no illusion about Brock Osweiler and the team’s quarterback position. He knows the entire group needs to get much, much better in 2017.

“We need better performance out of that position,” McNair said, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle. “The challenge is trying to figure out what we can do with what we’ve got. We thought that we had it, and it didn’t quite measure up.”

Signed for $72 million last March, Osweiler struggled mightily during his first season in Houston—throwing for 2,957 yards, 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions over 15 games and 14 starts. His passer rating of 72.2 ranked 30th among qualified quarterbacks. Head coach Bill O’Brien and the Texans eventually benched him for Tom Savage late in the year.

Osweiler now enters the second year of his mega deal with an uncertain future.

“The challenge is up to him to meet. He needs to step up,” McNair said. “I would certainly think that’s what he would do.”

The Texans still made the playoffs in 2016, mostly on the strength of a top defense. But to be a real contender in the AFC, the Texans must get much more from the quarterback position.

Osweiler remains the team’s best hope for getting more. He still needs to prove—over this offseason and into training camp and the preseason—that he’s the man for the job in Houston. It sounds like McNair’s patience is already dwindling.

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