The Texans anticipate getting starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor back from a Grade 2 strained left hamstring in a couple of weeks.
Taylor, 32, has to miss at least one more game under NFL rules requiring players to miss at least three weeks when they're placed on injured reserve. Taylor injured his leg while running for a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns.
“I think when we put him on injured reserve, there’s obviously a certain amount of time he’s got to stay there before he’s back," Texans coach David Culley said Monday at NRG Stadium. "We’re hopefully able to get him back here in the next couple weeks.”
The Texans have lost three consecutive games since Taylor got hurt in the first half against the Browns.
Texans rookie quarterback Davis Mills will start on Sunday against the New England Patriots at NRG Stadium.
Taylor is making steady progress in his recovery from the injury and attended the Texans' 40-0 road loss against the Buffalo Bills. The Texans' margin of defeat represented the worst loss in franchise history, topping a 45-7 defeat in 2017 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Against the Browns, Taylor completed 10 of 11 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown for a 144.3 passer rating before getting hurt.
Mills struggled mightily against the Bills as he threw four interceptions, was sacked three times, fumbled once, passing for 87 yards and a 23.4 passer rating. He completed 11 of 21 passes and had a 0.8 total quarterback rating.
Could Mills' confidence be damaged? He seemed to be in his usual even-keel mood after the game.
“I don’t worry about him that way, simply because of the kind of person he is and the maturity he has," Culley said. "It wasn’t a good day. He knew it wasn’t a good day. He also understands, as our quarterback, the first thing you’ve got to be able to do is you’ve got to be able to protect the football.
"He didn’t do that. Basically, he’s just got to get better there and understand that that’s part of the growing pains. But unfortunately, as I said before, to win a football game, you’ve got to keep from losing. That’s losing football when you don’t protect the football, and we’ve got to have that from that position.”
Culley emphasized that the Texans' mistakes, including five turnovers and 10 penalties for 100 yards are correctable errors.
“I don’t think it’s a quick fix," he said. "I think it’s fixable. We’ve just got to coach better. There were things that we did that we haven’t been doing. It had nothing to do with the weather. I keep hearing about the weather. It had nothing to do with the weather. It was the fact that we didn’t play good football."
A third-round draft pick from Stanford, Mills has completed 56.7 percent of his throws for 357 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. He's averaging 5.8 yards per attempt and has been sacked eight times. Mills has a 50.4 passer rating.
Culley said during his Monday press conference that he's not concerned about Mills' confidence. He added that the Texans aren't looking to add another quarterback at this time.
The Texans did recently make an inquiry about Denver Broncos quarterback Brett Rypien when he was on the Broncos' practice squad, according to a league source not authorized to speak publicly. Rypien was promoted to the Broncos' active roster last week.
Jeff Driskel, a former Broncos quarterback, is the Texans' current backup to Mills.
In other injury news, Culley indicated that running back Rex Burkhead is the only player slated to miss this week's game. Defensive end Jon Greenard left the game with a chest injury, but Culley said it wasn't a serious injury.
“We were good," Culley said. "Other than Rex, I feel like everybody will be ready to go this week.”
Aaron Wilson has covered the NFL for 20 seasons, including the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. He has previously written for The Houston Chronicle and The Baltimore Sun. He’s on Twitter: @AaronWilson_NFL and Instagram: @aaronwilson7128.
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