Well, it appears that he'd seen enough of Case Keenum (the guy with zero NFL victories beside his name) to not have to bother going through the motions of an evaluation season or even quarter of a season. Which is actual good coaching, as the Texans have won more games in that month than they won all of last year.
Now if O'Brien offers Fitzpatrick a "solid NFL starter contract" and diddles away 3 years with up-and-down mediocrity with him as his only option, then we can start scratching our heads. But something -- the Ryan Mallett deal -- tells me O'Brien and the Texans are not going to be asleep at the wheel.