Matt Leinart Says He's Ready To Take Over For Houston Texans

With the devastating news of Matt Schaub's season-ending injury for the Houston Texans all eyes will now shift to former USC and Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Matt Leinart. Leinart joined the Texans before last season after a tumultuous four-year career in Arizona where Leinart played in 29 games in four years for the Cardinals. 

Leinart knows that this is a next mans' up league and you have to be ready to step in and take over whenever the time comes. via houstontexans.com

"It’s a huge opportunity for me," Leinart said on Monday. "I’m really bummed for Matt (Schaub). We’ve become very close the last year and this year. He’s the leader of this football team and he’s done a great job in the 4-5 years he’s been here to get us to this point... But he knows and everyone knows in this profession that things happen and the next guy has to step up."

Leinart has the fortune of having one of the best running games in the NFL along with one of the best defenses in the entire NFL as well. Something he's not familiar with from his time in Arizona and he says he's ready to step in and do his part to help the Texans continue to lead the AFC South division. via houstontexans.com

"Arizona, we weren’t a big play-action and boot pass team at all and here, obviously that’s there. With the way we run the ball so well, that’s a huge part of our offense and that’s something that I really feel comfortable doing and I think the coaches know that just because of my past experience… I know we’ll continue to do that stuff because that’s what makes us so good. That’s our offense."

Leinart and the Texans have an extra week to get acclimated to each other with the bye week before heading to Jacksonsville a week from Sunday.

For more information and coverage on the Houston Texans visit SB Nation's Battle Red Blog.

Over at SBNation, our resident medical expert Ali Mohamadi took a look at Matt Schaub's lisfranc injury. Long story short: it's very bad. Not only will it cost him the rest of the season, it may also threaten his entire career:

This clearly places Schaub's 2011 season in jeopardy, and the major concerns for the remainder of Schaub's career and beyond will be whether the injury heals sufficiently to prevent chronic pain and stiffness of the foot. This will depend upon the exact nature of the injury and how easy it will be to realign the damaged areas of the midfoot, a proposition that may require surgery.

The Lisfranc joint is the point at which the metatarsal bones (the long bones that lead up to the toes) and the tarsal bones (the bones in the arch, which include the cuneiform bones) connect. The Lisfranc ligament is a tough band of tissue that joins two of these bones. It is important for maintaining proper alignment and strength of this joint.

Located in the middle of the foot, the Lisfranc ligaments connect the heel and the ankle to the toes. When they've been damaged, it becomes impossible to generate power or put any pressure on the foot, both fairly essential parts of the job description of an NFL QB.

As Mohamadi explains, it's a fairly rare injury in the NFL, with the most famous case being former Philadelphia Eagles RB Duce Staley. After surgery, Staley was never able to regain the mobility in his foot and was never the same player.

It doesn't necessarily mean that Schaub will suffer the same fate, but recovering from this injury will be a time-consuming, arduous and yet delicate process. 

After initial reports surfaced that Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub would be out indefinitely with a significant right foot injury, news coming out Texans camp is that their signal caller is now done for the year.

Filed to ESPN: Texans quarterback Matt Schaub is out for the season with a lis franc injury. Matt Leinart from here on in. — @AdamSchefter via Twitter

Let the Matt Leinart era begin in Houston.

Its a tough blow for a Texans team that has finally lived up to the lofty expectation that have been placed upon the franchise over the last few years. At 7-3, the Texans have a 2.5 game lead over the second-place Tennessee Titans in the AFC South and at times have looked dominant this season.

Houston will have two weeks to prepare for their next contest, as the bye week hits the Texans schedule before they face the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 29th. Gary Kubiak will lean on his No. 2 ranked rushing offense to move the chains while Matt Leinart assumes ownership of the huddle.

For more information on the Texans, head on over to Battle Red Blog. For everything NFL this week and more, visit SB Nation's NFL page.