Plan is to open up offense for QB
Culley admits that he may have been overprotective of Mills vs. Panthers
Limitations were placed on rookie quarterback Davis Mills within a Texans offense already limited by injuries, which produced limited success in another loss for a rebuilding franchise whose problems sometimes seem limitless.
Mills had only three days to prepare for his first NFL start against the Panthers and their top-ranked defense, and Texans coach David Culley instructed his staff to simplify the offensive game plan by cutting features like pre-snap checks to ease the rookie’s workload.
“I said, ‘Listen, just don’t make him uncomfortable,’ ” Culley said. “‘Make sure that he’s doing the things that he’s very, very comfortable with.’ ”
Mills was comfortable. Too comfortable. He threw for 168 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t turn the ball over. Mills performed like a competent student in remedial math, which made Culley reconsider whether he had coddled the third-round pick from Stanford, especially since the Panthers shut down the rest of the Texans’ offense by allowing just 42 rushing yards.
“We got to the point where we probably felt like we kind of went too far in trying to protect him and just kind of doing what we feel like we need to do,” Culley said after the 24-9 loss. “But I think what we did find out coming out of this game was he can handle a lot more than what we felt like because of the way he handled himself in this ballgame. And moving forward, we’ll just get back to doing the things that we had started doing for that first game-and-a-half when Tyrod (Taylor) was our starting quarterback.”
Consider Thursday night’s game the first passing grade for Mills in NFL 101: Can You Cut It As A Quarterback In The League? The Texans needed to evaluate Mills at some point this season anyway. General manager Nick Caserio, who’s been frank about the franchise’s focus on the process of rebuilding, will gather the evidence this season and decide whether Mills has a viable future as the team’s QB1 or if he’ll spend an early pick on one of college football’s elite signal callers.
Mills bounced back from a rocky first two drives when he was suddenly thrust behind center at Cleveland, where Taylor suffered a hamstring injury expected to sideline him for about a month. Mills rebounded from an interception against the Browns and led the Texans on a touchdown drive that brought them within a single score, and although the Browns still eventually pulled away in a 31-21 win, Mills earned the respect of his teammates.
Center Justin Britt said Mills has called both games “pretty clean” from the backfield. He’s noticed Mills has an aptitude for reading defenses, noticing threats and calling out changes when given the opportunity.
“There’s not much I need to do,” Britt said. “Like I said, after the Cleveland game, I have a lot of trust in him, a lot of faith in his coaching and ability. He’s here for a reason.”
The limitations placed on Mills, paired with Houston’s ineptitude in the run game, created unfavorable field position on later downs that made it easier for the Carolina pass rush to attack Mills. Subsequently, the Texans limited the offense by using more players to block for Mills than they would normally send downfield on routes.
Much debate stirred after Culley’s third-quarter decision to punt on fourth-and-4 at the Carolina 39. But two plays before, Mills tried to connect deep to Brandin Cooks along the left sideline. The Texans chose to protect Mills with seven blockers, including running back Mark Ingram and tight end Antony Auclair, and since the Panthers sent only four rushers, Carolina had the clear numbers advantage with eight defenders covering three receivers. Cooks had no room in his route and was forced out of bounds by cornerback Donte Jackson.
Such max protection indicates a need to support an offensive line that’s having struggles blocking on its own, and indeed, on the next play, the Texans blocked with six players against six Panthers defenders, and Mills had to evade a sack and flushed right before flinging a desperate thirddown pass incomplete to Anthony Miller.
All four of Carolina’s sacks came when the Texans were blocking with just as many or more players than the Panthers were sending to rush.
Culley said the Texans’ staff feels “very comfortable blocking with five” against future opponents. He said some of the protection issues will be alleviated when Mills is freed to make pre-snap checks and calls.
“He’s going to have a lot more put on him than we put on him last week,” Culley said. “I feel like he’ll be able to handle it. We’re just going to run our offense and let him handle it from there.”