Texans QB Davis Mills Unfazed Going Into Jaguars Showdown

With a degree of luck, Mills avoided the perilous trap of checking into social media this week. After all, it's been a place where itchy fingers have insisted that had Stroud not left the game on Sunday, it could, and should have led to a vital Texans win.

The truth is, the game of pro football only deals in brutal home truths, and the Texans have to move on rather quickly from wallowing in their own faintly reassuring hard luck narratives. At least Mills can draw on the major positive factor that this time around, he's going to get some playing time at long last.

Therefore, Mills is insistent that being fully ready won't present a problem when the Texans face their divisional rivals, the Jacksonville Jaguars, this weekend.

"I think it leads you to, obviously, be introspective," Mills admitted.

"Kind of look at yourself and what else I could be doing to really gain these guys' trust and be as confident in my abilities as I am in myself. I think I've worked really hard to prove to those guys that I can go out there and be successful day in and day out. And I think I've shown that to my teammates as well. So, it's going to be fun on Sunday."

Of course, being slung into the deep end against the Denver Broncos’ heavyweight defense for the three quarters was never going to give Mills a running start.

On the flip side, toughing it out in the face of intense pressure is bound to have gained more respect within a Texans locker room, one which is desperately searching for a power source to plug back into.

Mills' Mindset Remains the Same: Always Be Prepared

Building on that small platform of trust will now prove absolutely crucial if the Texans are going to start climbing out of a pretty dark hole, but Mills sounds as eternally optimistic as a career backup always should be.

"Obviously, I'm ready. That's kind of how I prepare week in and week out," Mills declared. "I've always had the mindset that you could play at any given snap. Unfortunately, what happened to C.J. in the game, I got thrown in there. But that's what I I get paid to do."

"Always be prepared, and it's nice having a full week of practice going into this game to attack this defense, and go out there and lead the guys. The backup quarterback's not getting most the reps throughout the week. 

“So, it's nice having a game plan built around you, and being able to rep all those plays throughout the week to see the different defensive looks from the look team and go out there and execute the plays early in the week so you can kind of make it work on Sunday.”

Somehow, sparking the Texans’ fractured season back into life has finally reached the chapter whereby the wildcard calayst now takes the reins, but strangely, it doesn't feel overly surprising either.