Rookie quarterback Davis Mills will make his first NFL start when his Houston Texans host the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
Texans coach David Culley announced Tuesday morning that starter Tyrod Taylor would miss the Week 3 contest after injuring his hamstring in Sunday’s 31-21 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Taylor was placed on injured reserve later in the day.
A third-round selection out of Stanford, the 22-year-old Mills completed 8 of 18 passes for 102 yards with one touchdown and one interception after replacing Taylor in Cleveland.
Culley was asked what he wanted to see out of Mills this week.
“Basically, just do what we ask him to do,” Culley said. “We’ll actually have the same playbook, obviously there’s some things that he is a little different than Tyrod, but we actually have the same kind of plays. But we’ll use the things that fit him more so than what we did with Tyrod. Some of the things we did with Tyrod we may not do with him in the run game, but as far as the pass game it will basically be the same thing.”
Culley confirmed on Monday that Deshaun Watson would not be active for Thursday’s game.
The Texans (1-1) are expected to activate Jeff Driskel from the practice squad to serve as Mills’ backup against the Panthers (2-0).
Driskel has started nine games over the past three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos. He is 1-8 as a starter. The 28-year-old has appeared in 15 games and completed 58.6 percent of his passes for 2,120 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Taylor, 32, was injured when he scrambled to score a 15-yard touchdown with 7:06 left in the second quarter of Sunday’s game. He played the next series, then was replaced by Mills.
Before leaving, Taylor was effective, completing 10 of 11 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. On the season, he has completed 70.5 percent of his passes for 416 yards and three TDs. He has not thrown an interception.
Also on Tuesday, the Texans placed rookie wide receiver Nico Collins on injured reserve and signed tight end Antony Auclair to the active roster from the practice squad.
Collins, 22, sustained a shoulder injury on Sunday. He has two catches for 39 yards in two games after being selected by Houston in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Auclair, 28, tallied 10 receptions for 84 yards in 40 career games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.