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Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Matt Schaub took half the reps at Texans practice Tuesday, but the bigger quarterback news was about his backup.

Grossman

As much as the team likes Dan Orlovsky, and as much as it paid him, Gary Kubiak and his staff have made the prudent decision and given Rex Grossman the No. 2 job.

“Rex Grossman will be our No. 2 going into the game,” Kubiak told Houston reporters. “I talked to both those young men today. I think they both need to get ready to play. Obviously, Matt has hobbled, so they both have got to be ready to go. As I told Dan and Rex, I just said, 'I’m leaning towards Rex’s experience and the way he’s handled himself and handled the team the other night.' I’m kind of drawing from what I’ve seen him do in the past and I’m just very comfortable with him right now. So as we get started, Rex will be the two. ...

“It was very difficult for one of them and of course one of them is very happy. That’s just the nature of the business. I told Dan that I expect him to be ready to go. It doesn’t mean we are this way the entire season. You never know, but this is the way I feel like we should start and I expect Rex to handle it like a pro and step up. I expect Dan to handle it like a pro and get better every day out here.”

While Grossman played very well in the preseason finale against Tampa Bay, he showed during his term in Chicago that he can be very good or very bad. If he were to be called on to take over for Schaub, who hurt his ankle in the preseason finale, and was Bad Grossman, the turnover problems that have plagued the Texans could resurface.

But Good Grossman would give the team a chance, and the Texans are feeling pretty good about the odds of seeing him if they have to turn to the bench.