Mills to start rest of season
There has been a change at quarterback for the Texans with five games left in a rebuilding season.
Rookie Davis Mills will start against the Seahawks and will be the team’s starter for the rest of the season, coach David Culley said Friday. The third-round pick from Stanford started in six games earlier this season while Tyrod Taylor was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Now, Mills supplants Taylor outright after the 11-year veteran lost Culley’s favor with a fourgame stretch of uncharacteristically undependable play.
Such a change calls into question whether Taylor, who signed a one-year, $12.5 million deal in March, will be retained by the Texans after the season is over. Several veterans will become available free agents in the offseason, and the rebuilding franchise also could pursue options in the upcoming draft.
“He’s a pro,” Culley said of Taylor. “He didn’t like the decision. I wouldn’t have liked it either. But this is a production business. On offense, it always starts at that position, and we needed a spark, we needed a change, and we made the change.”
The offense’s futility reached an all-time low with Taylor under center in Houston’s 31-0 loss to Indianapolis last Sunday. Taylor completed just five of 13 passes for 45 yards against the Colts and threw an interception on the first play of the game.
Taylor’s pick was most costly in the eyes of the turnover-focused Culley. The first-time NFL head coach places a high price on protecting the football, and, after Taylor threw more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (two) in four games, Culley no longer felt the veteran gave the team its best chance to win.
Taylor suffered ligament damage in his left wrist in the loss to the Colts, but, even after an MRI confirmed a hyperextension tore a ligament, Culley said Wednesday the injury will “have no role in the decision.” Taylor practiced without limitations while wearing a glove over his left hand throughout the week, and the Texans coaching staff made its choice after splitting up the first-team reps for both quarterbacks.
The switch also provides another trial run for Mills, who can gain valuable experience in the season’s final five games. Culley said the additional starts “will be a tremendous help” for Mills, who in six starts threw for 1,255 yards with
six touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Neither Taylor nor Mills substantially improved Houston’s historically inefficient offense. The Texans were outscored 189-61 in Mills’ six starts, and to expect any considerable overall change in efficiency by inserting the rookie back into this limited offense would be unrealistic. But since the Texans (2-10) already are eliminated from playoff contention, it makes sense for the franchise to see what else it has in Mills and let the rookie develop more in the final five games.