HOUSTON -- Ryan Mallett didn't approach this Monday any different than he'd handled all the other Mondays he'd spent in his four years in the NFL.
Houston's new starting quarterback, who picked up a road victory over the Browns in his first career start Sunday, said he didn't let the weekend's success change anything.
"It seems like a smart thing to do to me," said Mallett, a former Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback from Texarkana, Texas.
Another thing that didn't change Monday was Mallett's fun-loving demeanor.
When he was asked about Sunday being his "first game" he at first seemed annoyed.
"Well I mean, I've played football before," he said, disguising humor with a deadpan response. "I was just kidding."
The Texans hoped benching veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of Tom Brady's former backup would give their offense a spark that had been missing as they'd lost four of their past five games.
The move paid off in a 23-7 victory over Cleveland, where Mallett, who entered the game having attempted four passes in his NFL career, threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
"It didn't feel like my ... first start or whatever," he said. "It felt normal. It felt natural. So I'm just going to try to build on that and every day get better."
He'll need to this week if the Texans hope to compete with the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals, who are coming off a 27-10 victory over New Orleans. He said his thoughts immediately shifted to the Bengals after Sunday's victory.
"Got to do it again," he said. "Can't get complacent, obviously. It's one game. We have to go continue to work."
Coach Bill O'Brien said he was pleased with Mallett's work Sunday, but he's looking for more this week.
"He did a solid job, but he made mistakes," O'Brien said. "There's a lot of things he and we need to clean up."
Mallett said he hadn't had a chance to read texts from all of his well-wishers by Monday morning. He did, however, take a second to check a message sent by Brady, the quarterback he played behind for three seasons in New England.
"He said congratulations," Mallett said beaming.
In Houston, Mallett's teammates said they loved the way he commanded the huddle and raved about all the little things he did right.
"He's a very confident person," left tackle Duane Brown said. "Very vocal and it shows. We mixed it up a little bit out there with some of the players and he didn't back down from it, and that's great to see. He has a great intensity about him, but is also very poised."
O'Brien said Mallett was helped by an offensive line that played its best game of the season. They didn't allow a sack and their blocking helped the running game not miss a beat with rookie Alfred Blue filling in for Arian Foster, out with a groin injury.
Blue, a sixth-round pick out of LSU, set a franchise record with 36 carries and tied Houston's single-game rookie rushing mark with 156 yards rushing. When asked about Blue's performance O'Brien joked it isn't that hard to get more than 100 yards when you have that many carries. Then he got serious.
"When we drafted him, we felt like he was a smart player, a tough player," O'Brien said. "(But) I told him this morning and he knows that you're only as good as your next game."
Sports on 11/18/2014