Person of Interest: Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub

Vitals

• Position: Once a franchise quarterback, now a veritable white flag of surrender
• Height: 6-6
• Weight: 245
• Age: 34
• Experience: 12th season

The storyline

It wasn’t all that long ago that Matt Schaub was considered a franchise quarterback. It was just two years ago, in fact, that he was in charge of a Houston team that started 2-1 and was still considered a Super Bowl contender after back-to-back playoff appearances.

Then something happened. Well, more specifically, Richard Sherman happened.

He capped off Seattle’s comeback from a 20-point deficit by intercepting Schaub’s fourth-quarter throw and returning it for a game-tying touchdown, having lost his shoe in the process.

That was the third consecutive game in which Schaub had an interception returned for a touchdown, but Sherman’s pick was the backbreaker not only in the Texans’ season but in Schaub’s career. Houston didn’t win another game all season, and Schaub lost his starting job after just two more games.

Schaub was with the Raiders last season and is now in Baltimore, where he’s stepped in for Joe Flacco after the Ravens’ starter went down with a knee injury. Schaub has had two interceptions returned for a touchdown in two games since taking over, which just adds to his total. He’s had seven interceptions returned for touchdowns going back to the start of the 2013 season. He’s thrown 13 touchdown passes to his own team in that same time. That means that the opponent is about half as likely as his own team to score when he throws the ball.

The statement

Schaub’s status for this game is a question mark, something that has nothing to do with his propensity to throw scoring passes for opponents. He was evaluated for a head injury in last week’s loss to Miami and did not practice either Wednesday or Thursday for the Ravens, who prepared this week as if backup Jimmy Clausen will start, according to the Baltimore Sun.

That would be worse than Schaub playing. First of all, Clausen has already played Seattle this season as he began the year on the Bears’ roster. He led Chicago to all of zero points in a Week-3 loss in which he stepped in for the injured Jay Cutler. Clausen would become the sixth quarterback in NFL history to start for two different teams against the same opponent in one season. Not only that, it would be the third time in his 13 NFL starts that he faced Seattle.

You know what that means? That Schaub winds up recovering in time to play Sunday, something he held out as a hope in a conference call with Seattle-area reporters on Wednesday.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Schaub said. “Obviously, it was a physical game we played. Like every week, you’re going to have things you have to battle through. But I feel pretty good, just still working through some things with the trainers.”