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The past is prologue.
The Houston Texans went 3-13-1 in 2022 with Davis Mills as the starting quarterback for 15 of those games. Seeing quarterback as a position of need, the Texans addressed it with C.J. Stroud, their No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
Houston would not have had a shot at Stroud without the Texans’ atrocious record in 2022.
For Mills, who has his sights set on being Houston’s Opening Day starter at the Baltimore Ravens Sept. 10, the last-place finish for the Texans was a “big learning experience.”
The former 2021 third-rounder met with reporters after organized team activities on May 23 to talk about using the moribund campaign to improve the team with new coach DeMeco Ryans.
“Obviously the record was what it was,” Mills said. “We wanted to win more games, and I think it led to some of the decisions that we ended up having to make as an organization this offseason.”
Even though Mills is fighting for his job and working with a third different offensive coordinator in as many seasons — Tim Kelly to Pep Hamilton to Bobby Slowik — the former Stanford product views each practice and meeting inside NRG Stadium as an opportunity to improve.
Said Mills: “I mean, it’s another day, another day to get better for me personally. I’m looking at it as another learning experience that’s going to add to my ability to go out there and play quarterback at a high level.”
No quarterback has started more games for Houston since 2021 than Mills with 26.