Biggs: Quick healer Grossman to play Friday night for Texans

Rex Grossman was expected to miss a month when he pulled his hamstring in the preseason opener for the Houston Texans on Aug. 15 after throwing just one pass.

If only he healed this fast when he was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears. Texans coach Gary Kubiak announced that Grossman is expected to play Friday night when the team closes out the preseason at Tampa Bay. With starter Matt Schaub nursing an ankle sprain that could affect his status for the season opener vs. the New York Jets, Dan Orlovsky will start against the Bucs. With three turnovers in his last two games, Orlovsky needs to instill a little more confidence in the coaching staff in the event he’s needed come Sept. 13.

“(Orlovsky) is making progress, but he's continuing to make some of the mistakes that can get you hurt,” Kubiak said. “The key to him helping this team win and the key to his career is eliminating those three or four plays that can get you beat.

“We've got to get him more comfortable (because) you can't make those mistakes and win. Dan's our backup, and if something happens to Matt, he's got to be ready to go.”

The expectation is that Grossman will enter the game some time in the second half. It’s not an insignificant outing for him. When Kubiak signed Grossman in June, the expectation was he would make the roster with a chance to compete to be Schaub’s backup. The curious timing of it—Grossman had been on the street for more than three months—led some to believe the Texans were not enthralled with Orlovsky at the time. But missing the bulk of the preseason certainly has not aided Grossman, whose career with the Bears was sidetracked the first three seasons by significant injuries.

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