Davis Mills is in the risk assessment business.
The second-year quarterback’s role is all about ball distribution for the Houston Texans offense. It could be argued that his No. 1 priority is to protect the football, and endeavor he had just one blemish with against the Indianapolis Colts, who recovered his lone fumble in the 20-20 tie from Week 1 at NRG Stadium.
Mills completed 23 passes on 37 attempts for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The 98.9 passer rating was good enough to manage a stalemate, but not good enough to win.
The former 2021 third-rounder from Stanford was playing it safe late in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Texans’ 17-point lead eroded and the offense had trouble moving against Indianapolis’ defense.
Mills sees the boundary between playing it safe and letting it loose late in games as part of his job.
“It’s within the game,” Mills told reporters after practice Wednesday. “That’s what we get paid to do, to dance on that line, when to take a shot and when to be smart with the football. Anytime when you talk about stuff like that, you’re never exposing the football to the defense. You’re always being smart in that regard and the shots will come in with how we’re calling the offense, how we’re game planning against them throughout the week.”
Part of taking risks for Mills involves staying patient and having discernment about when to attack a defense.
Said Mills: “Situationally, there will be time to take chances, but it’s never blatantly exposing the ball to the defense. It’s something that’s not smart to do.”
The Texans will have to be smart with the football as they take on the Denver Broncos Sunday at 3:25 p.m. from Empower Field at Mile High. The Broncos turned the Seattle Seahawks over once with a fumble in the 17-16 loss on Monday night.
