Not necessarily a snap decision
Will Mills still start at quarterback once Taylor is healthy enough to return under center?
Sometime within the next couple of weeks, the Texans are going to make a decision that should intrigue their players, assistant coaches, fans and media.
When Tyrod Taylor has recovered from his hamstring injury, will he be the starting quarterback again, or will the Texans stick with Davis Mills?
Taylor will be eligible to come off injured reserve after Sunday’s game against New England at NRG Stadium. Players placed on injured reserve have to miss a minimum of three games.
That doesn’t mean Taylor will be healthy and cleared to return to the 53-man roster. He won’t be rushed. One of the worst things a team can do is to rush back a player with a soft-tissue injury and risk aggravating it and making it worse.
But when team doctors tell general manager Nick Caserio and coach David Culley that Taylor is 100 percent and ready to go, he might not get back his starting job.
That seems confusing, right, considering how well Taylor played in the victory over Jacksonville and in the first half at Cleveland, where the halftime score was 14-14 when he left with the injury?
The Texans, who are undergoing a total reconstruction under Caserio and Culley, are 1-3 with a three-game losing streak since Taylor was injured.
The decision to start Taylor or Mills begins with Caserio. He’s in charge of finding a franchise quarterback to replace Deshaun Watson, who will eventually be traded, perhaps to Miami by the Nov. 2 trade deadline.
Culley, offensive coordinator Tim Kelly and passing game coordinator/ quarterback coach Pep Hamilton will weigh in with evaluations and opinions.
The Texans need to find out if they believe Mills can be their starting quarterback. The odds are against him after starting only 11 games at Stanford and being a third-round draft choice. But nobody can rule it out.
That’s why the coaches need to see how Mills bounces back against the Patriots and if he can show improvement as long as he’s in the lineup.
Kelly was asked Thursday about the Mills-Taylor debate that’s almost guaranteed to happen.
“Whatever’s going to be best for our team,” Kelly said. “Whatever’s going to put us in the best position to win.
“I think it’s been pretty evident that, as an organization, that’s what we’re trying to do, and we’re not going to treat that decision any differently.”
The “best position to win” doesn’t necessarily mean this season. Obviously, the Texans have a better chance to win this season with Taylor, who signed a one-year contract. Winning beyond this season is more important because Caserio is trying to build something that can be sustained.
Let’s say Taylor won’t be ready next week. If Mills plays against New England and Indianapolis the way he played at Buffalo, it’ll be an easy decision.
The Texans want Mills to be impressive enough to make the decision a difficult one.
“Yeah, because if that’s the case, that means he’s playing well, and he’s making our job hard as far as making that decision,” Kelly said. “Ideally, it’s a tough one whenever that time comes.”
Nobody knows when that time will come. Taylor still isn’t ready, but he should be soon. Mills is under a lot of pressure to produce, almost always a difficult assignment for a rookie quarterback this early in the season.
After showing promise in the second half against the Browns and against the Panthers, Mills regressed. That happens to young quarterbacks. But now he has to show some progress against the Patriots and Bill Belichick, one of the best defensive coaches and the best head coach in NFL history.
“I’m excited for it,” Mills said about going against Belichick. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
And what a challenge it’ll be for a quarterback making his 14th start since high school.
Mills can’t afford a repeat of his Buffalo performance. He can’t make as many bad decisions and bad throws and be so inept in an embarrassing first half. He has to be better than his 11-for-21 effort that produced only 87 yards and no touchdowns. No more four interception games and 23.4 ratings.
Mills was asked this week what he thinks he needs to do to keep his starting job?
“Not really a huge comment on that,” he said.
“Obviously, I’m going to put my best foot forward every day and do as best I can to, hopefully, win games for the team.”
Taylor, who’s a terrific team leader respected by everyone, has been doing what he can to help his replacement.
“He has been,” Mills said about Taylor helping him. “He’s still in all the meetings working through the game plan and the installs with us making sure we’re, as a team, best fit to win the game.”
That’s another example of what a class act Taylor is, always putting the team before himself. There’s nothing Taylor can do other than help a rookie who might keep him on the bench and wonder where his new destination will be in 2022.