Injury accelerates timeline for audition bound to happen
At some point this season, the Texans needed to take an extensive look at rookie quarterback Davis Mills, so it might as well be now.
No matter how much respect they’ve earned in two games, it’s not as if the Texans are going to win the AFC South or earn a wild-card berth during a season of rebuilding under general manager Nick Caserio and coach David Culley.
The Texans have to find out if they believe
Mills can be their quarterback of the future. Whether they believe he can or can’t will have a colossal impact on the 2022 draft, in which they’re likely to be seeking Deshaun Watson’s replacement.
Ideally, Tyrod Taylor would have stayed healthy until Caserio and Culley believed the time was right to elevate Mills to see how much he had developed. The Texans play nine games before their open date and eight afterward, and
welcome to the Texans.
Things aren’t always what they seem.
Some free advice from a local media member who covered Matt Schaub’s 2013 fall, then devoted thousands of words to Case Keenum, Ryan Mallett, Tom Savage, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brandon Weeden, T.J. Yates, Brian Hoyer and Brock Osweiler before Deshaun Watson magically arrived to fix everything: Make the best out of your time in red and blue, because it’s not going to last forever.
“We talk about the next-manup mentality. And I know at that quarterback position, it’s a little different position than some of the other positions when that happens,” coach David Culley said Monday at NRG. “Our team has the utmost confidence in Davis, and they had the utmost confidence in all those guys. We had guys coming on and off the field all (Sunday) because it was
a very physical game, and we knew it was going to be that way. Guys were going back in, guys were coming out, they were going back in.”
The 2021 conversation already has changed.
The carousel is spinning again.
The Texans are being forced to make a move they didn’t want to have to make this fast.
And I’m typing these next words with 100 percent sincerity: Tyrod Taylor deserved better.
The 11-year veteran led the NFL in adjusted QB rating (84.5) after an electric/painful Sunday for The Shield, topping much bigger names who sell more jerseys. Taylor was sharper in that key category than Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, Derek Carr and Lamar Jackson. He also ranks fourth in passer rating (122.9) after two games, edging out Kyler Murray.
Professional bad luck has unfortunately shadowed the good-guy Taylor for years, though, and his latest setback is
a hamstring injury that could force him to miss a month of action and has sealed his current Texans career at six quarters of inspiring leadership. Dang. Dang. Dang.
I was getting used to typing T5.
I was looking forward to writing more Taylor columns while the resilient Texans fought for a 3-2 record that kept them in the local and national conversation.
“We couldn’t have asked any more of what we were doing at that point with him in there,” said Culley, after the Texans lost Taylor midway through a tough 31-21 road defeat to Cleveland.
Texans Twitter wasn’t super kind to the start of the Mills era Monday.
After Taylor’s injury timeline went from day-to-day (the Texans’ version) to potentially four weeks, this followed a simple tweet that mentioned Mills’ name:
“Don’t remind me.” A non-smiling smiling emoji. An “Oh Dear God” GIF. “Cam newton*.”
It’s easy to say Mills’ sudden promotion isn’t that big of a deal since the Texans weren’t supposed to be good anyway.
Tell that to the Texans sweating between the lines.
“There is a lot of fight in us,” veteran center Justin Britt said. “We showed that we are not going to lie down and just give you the game.”
Tell that to Nick Caserio, who responded to Watson’s trade demand and complicated offthe-field situation by selecting Mills with his first draft pick as the Texans’ new general manager.
Tell that to everyone who’ll be inside NRG on Thursday night.
What if Mills wins?
What if Mills is good? What if he’s really good and the home crowd keeps roaring and there’s a late-night buzz on Kirby Drive as Friday morning approaches?
Taylor has been through these situations too many times before, and he normally hasn’t gotten his old job back.
Mills has never been through any of this, and now he’s a few days away from being an NFL starting QB on national TV.
Like Mills, Watson suddenly took the field for the first time after a bad first half. And, of course, Watson’s first pro start was on short rest via “Thursday Night Football,” after a painful Texans loss.
I still remember so much about Week 2 at Cincinnati in 2017. The buzz and excitement inside the stadium. Watson’s brilliant sprint toward the end zone just before halftime. His Texans fighting for a 13-9 victory that only hinted at the awesome potential of the team’s new QB.
Week 3 against Carolina won’t be that. But it will be something, and it’s a start that Mills has been working toward since he first picked up a football. Welcome to the NFL, rookie. Welcome to the Texans. Here’s to good luck. You’re probably going to need it.