One of the reasons why Brandon Weeden was a good backup for the Houston Texans was the support he gave franchise signal caller Deshaun Watson.
In the offseason, Houston elected to let Weeden walk and sign former Cincinnati Bengal and Oakland Raider quarterback A.J. McCarron. Through nine weeks of the team’s offseason program, McCarron believes he has good communication with Watson.
“Everybody’s personality is different, but it’s been great,” McCarron said. “I feel like we communicate really well. He’s played a lot of games. I’ve played, I’ve seen a lot of ball for the amount of years that I’ve been in the league. We kind of just bounce things off each other.”
Unlike Weeden, who was an eight-year veteran and 34 years old in 2018, McCarron is 28 and has been in the NFL since 2015. Closing the age gap between Watson and his backup makes for clearer communication.
McCarron’s four years of NFL experience, three with the Bengals and one with the Raiders, should also be advantageous for Watson.
Said McCarron: “When it comes to the season, I’ll be able to help a lot more because of knowing so many teams and teams that I’ve played in the past with D-coordinators and stuff along those lines.”
In the meantime, it has been Watson who has had to help McCarron.
“He kind of helps me while I’m still learning about just our own defense, since we’re going against them every day,” McCarron said.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback has a 2-1 career record in the NFL with six touchdowns and two interceptions. While the Texans expect Watson will play all 16 games at a high level, having McCarron being an extra set of eyes for Watson is what is helpful to the team presently.
