Linebacker Christian Kirksey had one of the best seats in the house Saturday during the fourth training camp practice for the Houston Texans.
The 28-year-old, who spent last year with the Green Bay Packers prior to six seasons with the Cleveland Browns, saw rookie quarterback Davis Mills take extensive first-team snaps in the red zone as Tyrod Taylor missed practice due to personal reasons. Mills took it on the chin as the former Stanford Cardinal signal caller threw interceptions in the red zone.
“It’s good to show them how tough it is to play in the NFL,” Kirksey said. “We have all the confidence in him, and you know, it’s training camp. Everybody is trying to get better. Everybody is learning new things.”
Kirksey still has belief that Mills can be an effective field general in the NFL, even though he had a rude introduction in Saturday’s practice.
“I think that he is going to be a great quarterback,” Kirksey said. “You can just tell by his mechanics, how sharp he is, and it’s good for us on defense to understand that, you know, we’re getting him better and he’s getting us better, as well.”
The former Browns 2014 third-round pick from Iowa says that part of the defense’s job is to make is difficult on the offense in camp, as it also provides an opportunity for the defense to gauge where they are at as a unit.
Said Kirksey: “It’s a good chance to see where we are as a unit ask also see where he is. That’s our job to make it as hard as possible for him and his job is to try to beat us in practice and that’s how you keep elevating our team is we’re competing. We’re getting everybody better. We’re going out there and we’re practicing hard.”
If Mills can take his lumps and learn from them, the Texans should be able to eventually have a stable starting quarterback.
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