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Nearly one year ago, former Houston Texans head coach David Culley stood at the podium in front of the media and announced that rookie quarterback Davis Mills was replacing veteran Tyrod Taylor. Culley’s explanation for the change was that Taylor had become ineffective in leading the offense, and the franchise wanted to see what they had in Mills.
With the Texans set to take on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Mills has found himself in the same situation as Taylor did last December. Backup quarterback Kyle Allen has replaced him.
Many are not surprised that Mills is being replaced. His performance through the first ten games of the season is enough evidence to prove any case of making him a backup.
The offense looks lethargic when he is in the game, and his decision-making in the passing game makes fans cringe every time he drops back. Mills has thrown 11 touchdowns this season. He has also thrown 11 interceptions, including at least one in the last five games.
The perplexity of the situation has an underlying dichotomy. That has been caused by the individuals that are making the decision.
It isn’t the replacement that makes the Texans organization look unscrupulous. It is the lack of transparency that they had in announcing the decision. Coach Lovie Smith, general manager Nick Caserio, and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton all had an opportunity to say that they were making a change at the quarterback position and denied it.
“I will stay away from hypotheticals,” said Pep Hamilton when asked about Allen being the starter during his press conference. “I think all the guys on our gameday roster, we feel like they give us a chance to go and play competitive football.”
The elusiveness did not stop there for the signal caller. When asked if he felt that Mills gives the team the best opportunity to win against the Dolphins, Hamilton gave a very indistinct, borderline sarcastic answer.
“We feel like Miami’s defense is a formidable defense,” Hamilton responded. “They are notorious for bringing a lot of pressure, and we’re coming up with a scheme to feature our starters and make sure that we counter that pressure with the opportunities, take advantage and hit some big plays.”
Yet, some wonder why the local sports media has the attitude they do towards the organization. Being vague will only bring about more questions and criticism, which the Texans seem to have become comfortable doing.
Maybe Hamilton was taking his cues from Smith, who wasn’t amiable when he was asked repeatedly about the change at the quarterback position. To be clear, he was only asked the same question multiple times because he refused to give a clear answer the first time.
“The guys that we’re going to play are the ones we think give us the best chance to beat Miami,” Smith answered when asked the same question Hamilton was about Mills giving the Texans the best chance to win.”
Last season when Culley announced that the team had decided to make a quarterback change, he was clear and concise on what the plan was going forward.
At this point, we have no clue who will be the starter when former Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns come to NRG Stadium next Sunday.
Will it be Allen or Mills?
With how this coaching staff makes decisions these days, it could be Jeff Driskel.