Houston Texans receiver Brandin Cooks has noticed a change in quarterback Davis Mills.
The second-year signal caller from Stanford was the first selection taken in the Nick Caserio era with the 67th overall pick (Round 3) in the 2021 draft. Mills took his lumps with an 0-6 record to start his career. Mills finished with a 2-9 record overall, but the final five games were optimistic as he went 2-3 down the stretch with Week 18 seeing the Tennessee Titans have to work for their win that netted them home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Mills’ leadership has been on display for the offensive players throughout the offseason, according to Cooks.
“It’s been awesome,” Cooks told reporters after the first day of training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center. “We had the guys, including Davis, out in Oregon just a week before camp, and it was great to see. He came out to be able to lead, be able to be organized the way that he was.”
The leadership continued from Mills as he has taken a more active role in meetings.
“When we get out here, he’s a lot more vocal in the meeting rooms than he was his rookie year, and that’s what you want to see from your quarterback,” said Cooks. “It’s your team. And we love to see that demand that he’s taken.”
The Texans are giving the 2022 entirely to Mills as the backup quarterbacks in Kyle Allen, Kevin Hogan, and Jeff Driskel are more for the cohesion of the quarterback room than to actually compete for the starting job. Nevertheless it appears that Mills isn’t cruising through the reps and responsibilities as the starter; he is shouldering the burden of leadership, which should help the Texans properly evaluate where they need to go at the position beyond the 2022 campaign.
