Davis Mills and the Texans offense were cooking in the early part of Thursday night's Hall of Fame game against the Bears in Canton, Ohio. Late in the third quarter, the game was suspended because of lightning with Chicago up, 21-17.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud and several other starters had the night off, so Mills got the start under center and made the most of it, completing 10-of-13 passes for 102 yards, with a touchdown toss to tight end Teagan Quitoriano on the opening possession.
"Davis did a really nice job, really commanding the offense, really being efficient in the passing game," Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said. "I like what Davis did tonight and it's something that he can continue to build on."
The Mills-to-Quitoriano score was the capper on a 13-play drive that saw the Texans go 74 yards in 6:21 after receiving the opening kickoff. Mills spread the ball around to four different pass-catchers on the drive, and getting the Texans into the right situation, according to fellow quarterback Case Keenum.
"Davis takes the guys down and scores and goes through some reads that weren't exactly easy looks, based on what was available," Keenum said. "He got to some checkdowns and got to some backside reads that were really good quarterbacking play. I was really pumped for him."
On the next offensive series, Mills and the Texans began at their own 11-yard line. 12 plays and 6:45 later, a Ka'imi Fairbairn field goal extended Houston's early lead to 10-0. On the fifth play of that drive, with Houston on it's own 33-yard line, Mills dropped back on 2nd-and-7, juked out of a likely sack, and then went 27 yards downfield to wide receiver Ben Skowranek, who gathered it in for the long completion.
"I saw efficiency and command," Skowranek said. "I thought he did a really good job getting us in and out of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. He's a pro. It's not his first rodeo doing it. He's started a lot of games in this league. So he had a good command."
Mills' night was finished after that second Texans possession, but in all, he moved the offense down the field for a total of 10 points, while chewing up over 13 minutes of gametime.
"It was a great opportunity to go out there and play live football," Mills said. "We've been grinding so far during camp, and it's a battle each and every day going against our own guys. So it's fun to actually go out there and play a different opponent and different scheme and really see how the hard work we're putting in pays off. Obviously, we still have a long way to go. But I thought the guys that stepped up today played well and executed their job."
The Texans will stay in Ohio and attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony on Saturday. They'll practice in the Cleveland area from Monday through Wednesday, before leaving Thursday to take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh next Friday.
