Sunday’s matchup with the Denver Broncos will mark the third time in 2019 that the Houston Texans will face a quarterback with less than three NFL starts to their names.
Broncos rookie Drew Lock will join Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Gardner Minshew and Carolina Panthers sophomore Kyle Allen as relatively “unknown” quarterbacks to face the Texans in one of their first starts.
Lock, a second-round pick out of Missouri, will make game-planning tougher for the Texans. He has just one game of NFL experience to his name; he’s an unknown commodity.
“It’s hard. It’s definitely hard. There’s the unknown. I think we’ve actually played against — now with Drew on Sunday — we played against [Jaguars QB] Gardner Minshew early in the season and [Panthers QB] Kyle Allen,” said Texans coach Bill O’Brien on a Tuesday conference call with the Broncos beat.
Last week, the Los Angeles Chargers got a taste of the unknown. Lock beat them in his NFL debut, passing for 134 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on a 64.3% completion rate, good for an 84.5 passer rating.
O’Brien credits the big-game atmosphere of college football and NFL coaching for creating competent starters out of players with little to no professional experience.
“Those guys, they’re good. They’re trained well in college. They’re obviously coached very well in the pros. They’re good. These guys come into the league now and they’ve played in front of big crowds. They’ve played in big games,” said O’Brien. “They have no fear. They’re just going out and playing. They’re having fun. That’s what Drew’s doing in the game against the Chargers. It’s difficult.”
Lock played in the preseason before sustaining a thumb injury against the San Francisco 49ers that put him on the injured reserve up until Week 13. The Texans will study that along with his Missouri and Chargers tape to get a better understanding of his tendencies and skill set.
“You try to go back and study obviously the Chargers game, preseason, college, whatever you can get your hands on and try to do the best you can to have a good game plan,” said O’Brien.
In 2019, the Texans are split while facing quarterbacks with three or less NFL starts, beating the Minshew-led Jaguars and losing to Allen’s Panthers — the win over Minshew in Week does not apply. On Sunday, they will look to go 2-1 against quarterbacks with little playing time, as they host the 4-8 Broncos at NRG Stadium.