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09/08/10 06:45:00
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09/08 18:43 CDT Leinart gets fresh start with Texans
Leinart gets fresh start with Texans
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) -- Matt Leinart walked into the Houston Texans' locker room
Wednesday with stubble on his face and a new playbook in his hand.
Released last week by the Arizona Cardinals, Leinart practiced with the Texans
for the first time since agreeing to a one-year deal with the team Monday.
The 2004 Heisman Trophy winner will be the third-string quarterback when the
Texans open the season against Indianapolis on Sunday. It's a humbling fall
from the high expectations he brought to the NFL after three spectacular
seasons at Southern Cal.
But Leinart calls his one guaranteed season in Houston a "new chapter," and one
he hopes will revive his NFL career.
"Obviously, the first four years, they didn't go the way you would hope and the
way I hoped," he said. "I learned a lot as a quarterback, and as a person. I
had a chance to learn from Kurt Warner, who is one of the greatest quarterbacks
to play. Now, I get a chance to come here and learn from Matt (Schaub), who's
become a pretty good quarterback in this league.
"It's unfortunate that it worked out like that over there (in Arizona)," he
said. "But like I said, this is a new chapter, this is a fresh start, a new
offense. I'm just excited."
He spent most of the day with quarterback coach Greg Knapp, getting his first
taste of the complex offense that led the NFL in yards passing in 2009. He
threw an interception on a short route in practice, then threw a deeper pass on
target that was dropped.
Leinart said the Texans' offense is closer to what he learned in college than
in Arizona. Some of Houston's offense is similar to what the Cardinals ran, but
Leinart will have to memorize new terms for old plays.
"It's hard. It's not a position I've been in in awhile," he said. "There is
just so much stuff, I'm trying to soak it in. In Arizona, we had a lot of the
same concepts. The terminology and the words are just completely different. One
word meant something there, and then the same word means something completely
different here."
Leinart led the Trojans to two national championships and a third title game.
He was drafted 10th overall by the Cardinals and appeared in 12 games as a
rookie under coach Dennis Green, throwing 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He broke his collarbone in the fifth game of the next season, Warner took over
and Leinart watched from the sideline over most of the next 2 1/2 seasons.
Warner retired after the 2009 season, giving Leinart a chance to run the
offense. But Leinart openly complained about his relationship with coach Ken
Whisenhunt, Cleveland castoff Derek Anderson won the job in training camp and
Arizona started shopping Leinart.
When the Cardinals couldn't find a good deal, they cut Leinart and saved
themselves the $2.5 million that he was due to make this season.
Leinart chose his words carefully when he talked about his final days in
Arizona.
"The thing I've learned, especially the last couple of years, is control what
you can control," he said. "I worked hard, I prepared hard for this season,
this preseason. I thought I played well and had a good training camp. It just
didn't go as planned. Coach (Whisenhunt) decided to go in a different
direction. We had our differences, but I think we respect each other and it was
time to move on, obviously."
After he was cut, Leinart said he went to the beach in California and mulled
offers from teams that showed interest in him. Seattle, now led by former
Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll, was one of them, but Leinart said the Seahawks
chose to go "in a different direction in their quarterbacks, as far as how many
they were taking."
He said the Texans presented the most ideal situation, even though he isn't
likely to see much action backing up Schaub and Dan Orlovsky.
"My goals are just to work as hard as I can, to pick it up and study as much as
I can, and just be prepared to play if I'm ever called upon," he said. "That's
the mindset of a quarterback, especially when you're not the starter. I just
want to learn, I want to get better as a player."
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