The Houston Texans will face their second rookie quarterback this season when they host the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Drew Lock will make his first start on the road after leading the Broncos to a 23-20 win over the L.A. Chargers in his NFL debut. The rookie completed 18-of-28-passes for 134 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and no sacks in Week 13.
"He played well last week," head coach Bill O'Brien said Wednesday. "He made good decisions for the team. He got them into the right plays. You could tell he knows who to go to with the ball. He's got (Courtland) Sutton, he's got (Noah) Fant. Got a lot of good receivers and tight ends and then he's got the ability to hand it off to Phillip Lindsey, who is really good, a very good back. He's doing a good job. I think these guys are coming into the league and they're ready to go. They've been well-trained and they're ready to go."
Sutton, now in his second season, caught both touchdown passes last week, recording four catches for 73 yards, averaging 18.3 yards per catch. Through 12 games this year, the former SMU receiver has 54 catches for 903 receiving yards and six touchdowns for the Broncos.
"Very good player, very physical guy, can run routes," O'Brien said of Sutton. "The 50/50 ball is tough to defend with him. He's really good at contested catches, so yeah. He's a very difficult challenge for us this week, no doubt."
"This is probably his biggest stage yet and he's making good on it," cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. "He's making some big, contested catches down the field. He's a complete receiver. He doesn't mind going in and throwing his weight around and I think for us it will be a big task for Sunday to eliminate and not have the explosive plays."
The Texans defeated Jaguars rookie starter Gardner Minshew twice this year, although their Week 2 win came down to the final seconds of the game, a big stop on the Jacksonville two-point conversion. In Week 4, the Texans fell to the Panthers led by first-year quarterback Kyle Allen, who started just one game in 2018 for Carolina.
Kickoff for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos is set for noon CT on CBS and SportsRadio 610.
