HOUSTON – The clock is ticking down towards Saturday’s first sampling of this Texans football squad. They’ll open the preseason in Green Bay against the Packers and it will also mark the highly anticipated debut of rookie quarterback Davis Mills.
Tuesday marked day 12 of camp, and for the first time, Mills was in front of the media answering an assortment of questions regarding his performance and future. Also of interest, what life is like in the lab with the other quarterbacks in camp.
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So what’s it like with Deshaun Watson around the room? Big help or a distraction? Mills wasn’t going down the latter road.
“He (Watson) has helped out a lot,” said Mills after a two-hour workout. “What he has done with me, any questions I have, like the other guys, he has been an open book and he has taught me a lot.”
Mills has certainly had his share of bad days at training camp like any other rookie quarterback. Even Watson had his shaky days when he arrived, although not to the level Mills has endured. What Mills has shown though is the ability to make mistakes and then go back into meetings, examine the film, and learn how to make the corrections consistently.
“We’re still early on in camp. Obviously, I’m still learning the offense,” said Mills. “Something that always stuck with me is the little quote, ‘It’s never as bad as you think it is, and it’s never as good as you think it is.’ I try to keep my head up and just continually improve.”
For head coach David Culley, the top priority is consistency and limiting mistakes. He’s seen progress in his rookie as of late.
“Each day in practice, he gets better and better. Just like Jeff (Driskel), Tyrod (Taylor), all those guys,” said Culley on Tuesday. “I’ll say that from the scrimmage coming into practice yesterday, I was so encouraged as a coach to see us, especially offensive, make progress from the standpoint of eliminating the penalties, our tempo being a little bit faster. That was so encouraging yesterday. It was the first time this training camp that I’ve seen that consistently from the start of practice to the end of practice, and it was the first time when I left practice I said, ‘That’s what I want to see.’”
Saturday night Mills will make the official transition into the NFL. How many snaps will he get? Mills doesn’t know and is only looking at his visit to Lambeau Field as another chance to improve.
“I’m just happy if I get to play on Saturday, kind of obviously go out there and show what I can do. I’ll have really talented players around me on the same team that I’m looking forward to going out there and playing with, and I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun,” said Mills.
The Texans and Packers kick off their preseason opener Saturday at 7 p.m. in Green Bay. Check back for full coverage on KPRC 2 Sports and Click2Houston.com Sports.
