HOUSTON — Dan Orlovsky didn’t want to be Detroit’s backup quarterback. Now he’s the backup for the Houston Texans.
Orlovsky, who said he wanted to compete for a starting job rather than be a backup to Daunte Culpepper, signed Sunday to play behind Matt Schaub.
The Texans needed a backup after trading Sage Rosenfels to the Vikings for a fourth-round draft pick Friday.
Orlovsky said a big reason he chose Houston was to have an opportunity to work with coach Gary Kubiak, a former quarterback.
“I feel comfortable,” he said. “I feel that coach Kubiak is a coach that can push me and I’m excited to learn under him and under Matt and just get better.”
Orlovsky appeared in 10 games with seven starts for the 0-16 Lions last season. He finished with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, with 1,616 yards passing.
It was the first significant action of the 25-year-old’s career after he appeared in just two games in his first three seasons.
He made headlines of sorts when he handed Minnesota two points in a 12-10 Vikings victory by obliviously running out of the back of the end zone when he was rolling out to pass.
Orlovsky said he has no ill feelings toward the Lions, but that it was time to move on after the decision was made that he wouldn’t start.
“I was disappointed,” he said. “It was a confusing situation to be a part of because I didn’t think the play on Sundays was warranting that call or that decision.”
Orlovsky hasn’t given up on starting in the NFL again, but knows his role now is to simply be prepared if needed.
“I’m still only 25, so I know I have a long career ahead of me and my biggest thing was to try and become as good of a quarterback as I can,” he said. “And I think that this situation presents that.”
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