Texans coach Lovie Smith stands in defense of QB Davis Mills: 'He's our quarterback'
Four games into the 2022 NFL regular season, it is evident that the Houston Texans are determined to stick with second-year quarterback Davis Mills win, lose or draw. General manager Nick Caserio and head coach Lovie Smith believe he can turn things around.
Some Texans fans believe the same after Houston lost its third consecutive game Sunday to the Los Angeles Chargers by a score of 34-24.
During Monday’s press conference, Smith was asked about making a quarterback change and the possibility of replacing Mills with fifth-year backup Kyle Allen.
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“We’re not making a change at the quarterback position,” Smith told reporters. “The things we’ve talked about is with Davis (Mills) leading us and whatever Davis (Mills) and everyone, coaches, what we all need to do better. Did I just tell you we were in the fourth quarter?
"Do you know who our quarterback was that led us in position to take the lead there at the end? Davis Mills. He’s our quarterback.”
It is admirable — if not puzzling — that the first-year head coach is willing to allow his young quarterback to work through the things that have caused him to be unsuccessful throughout the first four games of the season.
Smith left out a crucial detail after he made sure that the media knew it was Mills’ play that helped the Texans come back from a 27-7 deficit in the second half.
Mills’ play also helped the Chargers take a commanding lead in the first half.
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The former Stanford Cardinal quarterback threw an interception on the third play of the Texans’ opening series that led to Los Angeles’ first touchdown. That set the tone for the first half, as he could not get the offense going by sitting in the pocket too long or missing on passes to wide-open receivers that helped the Chargers take a 20-point lead into halftime.
It wasn’t until the coach was specifically asked about the inefficient play of Mills in the first half that Smith acknowledged Mills was part of the blame but even then he deflected in his answer.
“To answer your question, yes,” said Smith about Mills’ play in the first half. “Offensive line, most of the offense, yes. All of the defense, yes. And some of the special teams. All of us. Our coaching wasn’t up to par on stuff to get us in that position. Yes, all of the above. Just not the one guy.
"In the end, on how we got the ball back kind of started with him (Davis Mills), yes.”
Smith did not acknowledge the offensive or defensive units in his previous response about getting the Texans back in the game. He made sure to specify that it was Mills who led them back.
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