The Houston Gamblers haven't had a completely healthy quarterback all season, and coach Kevin Sumlin isn't trying to hide it anymore. With Sunday's Mother's Day matchup against Orlando looming, Sumlin made his quarterback crisis crystal clear.
"I'm not trying to be coy," Sumlin said during his weekly press conference. "We're just trying to get a quarterback on the field that's healthy, and we haven't had one completely healthy in any game this year."
Quarterback Carousel Continues
The Gamblers are juggling multiple signal-callers heading into their crucial Week 7 matchup. John Rhys Plumlee is back on the roster after being kept by Pittsburgh following Mike Tomlin's departure. Nolan, whoever that is, "barely made it through the second quarter" in recent action. The team has released someone named Leah, and Hunter's status remains uncertain.
"That was the original plan," Sumlin explained about the current quarterback situation. "We had drafted John Rhys and then Deckers, and then brought Nolan in. So there was nothing that— what did I see or what did we do? That was the original plan."
The quarterback shuffling has been brutal for Houston's offensive consistency. At 2-4, they need to win out to keep playoff hopes alive.
Two Teams With Their Backs Against the Wall
Orlando comes to Houston riding a two-game losing streak after starting 4-0. The Storm have their own concerns, but quarterback Jack Plummer has been efficient all season with just one interception.
Sumlin knows Plummer well, having coached his brother at Arizona. "He's always been solid. He's always been a good player," Sumlin said. "You know, that's a competitive family. He's a competitive person, and he's going to take care of the ball."
The matchup should make for compelling football. "Basically you got two teams with their backs against the wall," Sumlin noted. "That should make for a really, really, really interesting football game."
Mother's Day and More
Sunday's game carries special meaning beyond football. The Gamblers are honoring mothers, first responders, and medical professionals in their "Hats Off to Heroes" celebration.
Sumlin made it personal when discussing Mother's Day. "My mother's 92 years old and she's still around, kicking. She won't be at the game, but she'll be watching on TV."
The coach emphasized the broader celebration. "We're honoring a lot of different people this weekend. First responders, mothers, just all kinds of different medical professionals, just people who have been generous with their own lives."
Defensive Concerns Remain
While Houston's defense has shown improvement in second halves, slow starts continue plaguing the team. Against Columbus, they dug themselves an early hole that put pressure on the entire squad.
"We have been completely different in the second half on defense and being able to kind of shut people down from a point standpoint," Sumlin said. "We got to start faster on defense and not have those type of dig those type of holes for our whole football team to come back and put pressure on everybody else."
The Gamblers face an Orlando offense that can be explosive when clicking. With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread and quarterback health still uncertain, Sunday's Mother's Day matchup could define Houston's season.