GM Rick Smith says Texans need better play out of quarterbacks

HOUSTON -- When the Texans gave quarterback Brock Osweiler a four-year, $72 million contract last offseason, they were hoping for a franchise quarterback.

Instead, Osweiler threw more interceptions (16) than touchdowns (15) during the regular season and was benched in Week 15 for backup quarterback Tom Savage. Osweiler gained the starting job back two weeks later after Savage left the Week 17 game with a concussion. Osweiler was named the starter for the playoffs less than a week later.

In 15 regular-season games, Osweiler completed 59 percent of his passes for 2,957 yards with 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 72.2.

"We've got to get better production from the quarterback position," Texans GM Rick Smith said at an NFL event on Thursday. "We've got to get better production from all across our football team. And we've got to do a good job of analyzing our football team, and that's what we're doing now.

"We're spending the time evaluating our football team and trying to figure out where we're strong, where we're weak and how we can go about improving."

Texans owner Bob McNair said Wednesday that Osweiler needs to "step up."

"I would hope [he can turn it around], but the challenge is up to him to meet it," McNair said. "He needs to step up. I would certainly think that's what he would do."

Smith said the team plans to be "aggressive" and "diligent" with improving this offseason across the board but that he still has confidence that Osweiler can be Houston's starting quarterback.

"Obviously I have that confidence in him," Smith said. "And I think he's got to have that confidence in him and he's got to go back to work. And we've all got to go back to work."

Smith declined to share whether the Texans were thinking of selecting a quarterback in April's draft.