Mastering chaos
Taylor steps in as QB amid uncertainty with Watson
With quarterback Deshaun Watson relegated to little more than a spectator in Houston Texans camp, Tyrod Taylor has been running the offense and asserting himself as the team’s leader.
“I definitely feel that guys look for me for leadership, and obviously that comes with the quarterback position, and I welcome that role,” Taylor said.
Though general manager Nick Caserio and new coach David Culley won’t say that they’re planning to start Taylor this season, everything that’s happened in practices this week has shown that they expect Taylor to replace Watson.
Watson led the NFL in yards passing last season and signed a four-year, $156 million contract extension with the Texans last offseason. But he became unhappy with the direction of the team and requested a trade in January after the Texans, who won the AFC South in 2018 and ’19, slipped to 4-12 last season.
His future was further clouded in March after 22 women filed lawsuits alleging that he sexually assaulted or harassed them. Houston police and the NFL are investigating the allegations, but no charges have been filed.
Watson still wishes to be traded and reported to camp solely to avoid being fined. He has been on the field for Houston’s first three practices but has only participated in individual work while Taylor and quarterbacks Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel have taken all the snaps during team drills.
Culley was an assistant with the Bills when Taylor played there and raved about his experience and leadership.
“He’s been there, and he’s done that,” Culley said. “He’s one of our guys right now, he’s been doing a nice job, he’s got a lot of experience. He’s been a starter in his league, he’s taken teams to playoffs in this league and right now with the competition that we are having, he’s right in the mix and doing his thing.”
Taylor signed a one-year deal with the Texans the day after the first lawsuit was filed against Watson. At the time it appeared Taylor would serve as Watson’s backup, but as the lawsuits piled up and Watson’s stance on the trade didn’t change, it started to look like he’d be taking over at QB.
Despite that, Taylor was careful not to say too much about his expected role when he spoke to reporters on Friday for the first time in camp.
“I feel comfortable being on the field,” he said. “It’s been a good three days. We’ve done a lot of good things on offense and continue to keep correcting and building as training camp continued.