With 11 starts under his belt, QB Davis Mills has now solidified himself as the leading rookie passer in franchise history with 2,664 passing yards.
In Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans, Mills passed David Carr (2,592 passing yards in 2002) for the most single-season passing yards by a Houston Texans rookie quarterback.
"That's actually pretty cool. I actually just heard about that right before I walked in and started this, but I'm just extremely grateful for the opportunity I've had," Mills said after Sunday's game. "My teammates trust in me, protecting me, and really just having fun out there when we go out and play every Sunday."
In his final game of the season, Mills completed 23-of-33 passes for 301 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 128.5 passer rating in the 28-25 loss to the Tennessee Titans. After a scoreless first half, Mills led scoring drives on all four possessions in the second half (three touchdowns and one field goal).
"We were able to use some tempo and spread the ball around to our playmakers," Mills said. "My whole job out there is to get the ball to the guys out in space and let them make plays. We really did that. Some guys had some big-time catches. Nico (Collins) had some big-time catches. Chris Moore got us started on that flea-flicker that he caught. Really, we were able to play a full-team game in the second half. I feel like if we were to get the ball one more time, we would have went down and won the game. Too little too late, but it was a good one."
After starting the season as a backup to Tyrod Taylor, Mills entered the Week 2 game off the bench when Taylor injured his hamstring. As a rookie, he started the next six games with Taylor on the Reserve/Injured list but then was relegated to the backup role for four games when the veteran QB returned. Mills earned the starting role for the final five games of the season and showed marked improvement, throwing nine touchdowns and just two interceptions, compared with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions in his first six starts.
"The biggest thing is I've just been grateful for my opportunity and my whole goal this season. I didn't set any stat goals, but just go out there and do my best every time I step on the field," Mills said. "Don't take anything for granted and just enjoy the game of football."
Mills finished his rookie campaign completing 66.8 percent of passes and tossing 16 touchdowns, 10 interceptions for an 88.8 passer rating. Mills also rushed for 44 yards on 18 carries.
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