HOUSTON — The Houston Texans will take the next 48 hours to evaluate whether Tyrod Tayor or Davis Mills will start at quarterback against the 4-8 Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Taylor, who has held the role as the Texans’ starting quarterback all season, was benched in favor of Mills during Houston’s 31-0 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Coach David Culley said a decision could come as soon as Wednesday.
“We will continue to evaluate what we are doing and see who will give us the best chances of winning,” Culley said during his media press conference on Monday. “The way our offense has played, it’s the job of our quarterback to score points and get us in the end zone.”
“We have not done that very well, and that’s why we are doing an evaluation right now.”
Since making his return to the lineup following a Grade 2 hamstring strain, Taylor has looked modest when compared to the player that led the Texans to a Week 1 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in September.
Over the previous four games, Taylor has completed an average of 54.5 percent of his passes for 514 yards and five interceptions. In the three quarters played against the Colts, Taylor completed five out of his 13 pass attempts for 45 yards.
Culley doesn’t believe that Taylor’s recent struggles are the results of any lingering issues with his hamstring, but a potential wrist injury could play a role in Mills starting for the 2-10 Texans in Week 14.
Following the substitution, Culley said he felt Mills did a great job replacing Taylor, despite one bad pass that could have resulted in an interception.
“We had Davis at quarterback before, and we adjusted when we had him during the games Tyrod was hurt,” Culley said. “We will go back and take a look at the things he did well, and adjust to him.”
In the eight games Mills played this season, the rookie quarterback from Stanford has thrown for a team-high 1,406 yards, eight interceptions and seven touchdowns.
He started six consecutive games for the Texans amidst Taylor’s hamstring injury earlier in the season, where Houston went winless with Mills starting at quarterback.