The Texans had a turnover on a nice Mills completion when Robert Woods had a ball poked out in the open field. Otherwise the most notable thing about his start was face-planting on the goal line on a second-and-goal dive for the pylon he came up short on. It was Mills’ first extensive playing time in a regular season game since 2022. He didn’t look half-bad, but it isn’t like the Texans are sitting on hidden gold on their bench either.

Mills, the team’s starter before C.J. Stroud took over in 2023, signed a deal that adds one year to his current contract. That means he’ll be with the Texans through the 2025 season. Last year, Mills completed 18 of 39 pass attempts for 173 yards and two touchdowns in spot duty.

C.J. Stroud suffered a concussion in Week 14 and did not practice at all this week. He was listed as doubtful for Week 15, giving him next to no shot at playing this week. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans declined to name a starter on Friday, only saying both players are prepared to start. Bien-Aime added that his sources say the two quarterbacks have split reps during practice. Though the Texans are dragging this out, we expect Davis Mills to get the starting nod on Sunday. Case Keenum has not been active for a game this year and Mills has occasionally taken the field in Stroud’s place. Mills is a massive downgrade from Stroud, though he should be able to keep Dalton Schultz alive as a low-end TE1 and Noah Brown on the WR3 radar.

"I keep working on myself," Mills said after the Texans OTA session on Tuesday. "I put my head down and work every day." Houston has reportedly rebuffed trade inquiries into Mills, who started 15 games last year and managed 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Only Baker Mayfield had a worse completion rate over expected than Mills in 2022. C.J. Stroud will start Week 1 barring some kind of catastrophic setback in training camp. Mills could be on another roster by then.