Texans QB Davis Mills hopes to be better in the pocket against the Broncos
Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills is still somewhat in his rookie year. Even though he is in his second year in the NFL, he has only started 12 games from under center.
So, there is still a bit of the unknown regarding him. Throw in the fact that he is on his second head coach and offensive coordinator in as many years as he has been in the league, and you have a new metric system when evaluating him.
One thing that can never be said about Mills is that he goes into any game unprepared. The Stanford-educated quarterback takes his job very seriously when preparing for the next opponent.
On Sunday against the Denver Broncos, he will try to replicate what he saw from Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback Geno Smith in the win over the Broncos in Week 1.
“I need to be ready to step up in the pocket and use my legs a little bit to help out the offensive line and open some guys up on the defense,” said Mills during his weekly press conference. “You saw on Monday night when Geno Smith stepped up in the pocket, some big things happened when the defense collapsed on him, when he was a run threat. Last season, I was capable of doing that.”
In the 20-20 tie against the Indianapolis Colts to open the season, Mills had a good game completing 23 out of 37 passes attempted for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Yet, his inability to move around the pocket caused three crucial sacks.
“Your feet will tell you as a quarterback,” Mills elaborated when asked about making decisions under pressure. “Just being trained in the system progression wise, your feet will tell you when you need to get off something or need to get past something. We’re trying to replicate pressure and guys rushing you throughout practice so we’re able to step up and really avoid the rush.”
“Be ready to step up in the pocket and use my legs a little bit to help out the offensive line and open some guys up on the defense,” said Texans QB Davis Mills when i asked him about the corrections that needed to be made from Sunday’s game. #Texans #Sarge @TheTexansWire pic.twitter.com/0jWLYNbjfE
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) September 15, 2022
Watching film on how Smith was successful against the Broncos will be helpful for Mills. Still, he also has watched his game tape and is ready to make the necessary adjustments to lead his team to victory on Sunday in Denver at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.
“Continue to stay aggressive throughout the game,” said Mills about what he learned after watching film from the game against the Colts. “Start the first quarter a little faster and put some stuff together.”
“There was some third downs where we had opportunities to make big plays on and convert and we just didn’t do that early on in the game and started to pick it up second and third quarter. Needed to just continue to stay aggressive in the four quarter. If we can do that for a whole game, the result is different. I think if we can do that this upcoming Sunday we can come home with a win.”
