Two weeks ago Matt Schaub went down to injury as the Houston Texans’ quarterback and today the back-up Matt Leinart was lost for the year with a shoulder injury. All of a sudden this is rookie T.J. Yates’ team.

The former UNC quarterback went eight of 15 and led the Texans on a drive that ended in a field goal. “Those first couple of plays I didn’t even have enough time to think about much,” Yates said. “I didn’t have time to get warm or anything. I just kind of went in there and didn’t think about it – I just played fast.”

Writer Jeffrey Martin of the website Ultimate Texans has written an excellent piece titled “Texans must now rally behind rookie QB T.J. Yates. Access it here.

CapitalSportsNC didn’t expect Yates’ chance to come this early but in August we wrote a piece titled “Could UNC’s Yates be the next Brady?” Access it here.