“I feel like I’m at a good spot right now,” Mills said. “Obviously there’s still a lot of room to grow, but I’m feeling more confident and comfortable out there and I’m really comfortbale with my teammates around me. I’m just ready to keep progresseing and head into this season.”
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One of the biggest weaknesses in last years iteration of the Texans was the lack of explosive plays.
Houston has already committed to fixing that problem, drafting John Metchie III to bring an explosive element to the passing game and spending another high draft pick on the offensive line, bringing in Kenyon Green.
But the Texans are taking things a step further, and are showing what a new and improved passing attack could look like during mandatory minicamp this week.
“I feel like I’m at a good spot right now,” Mills said. “Obviously there’s still a lot of room to grow, but I’m feeling more confident and comfortable out there and I’m really comfortbale with my teammates around me. I’m just ready to keep progresseing and head into this season.”
Mills was thrown into the fire last season and did very well, statistically being among the top three rookies in many passing categories, But he did struggle pushing the ball down the field.
The Texans are looking to get better in that regard next seasona and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has already seen plenty of signs of improvement.
“You always expect from year one to year two with a quarterback for them to have a better sense of how those NFL defenses play,” Hamilton said. “He has that and it’s going to allow him to process information faster and ultimately make better decisions and be more consistent in making those good decisions with the football.”
Mills ranked 26th in the NFL in air yards per completion and 27th in yards per completion. But when Mills did throw deep, he was successful. He owned a 123.5 passer rating on deep throws, which led the league and completed 47.6 of his deep pass attempts and only had 4.1% of his deep throws deemed turnover-worthy plays, which ranked fifth among starters. Having that experience and success has Mills feeling confident heading into his second year.
“One big thing that’s helped me and that’s got me more confident this year is the comfortability I have now,” Mills said. “I have that experience now to where I know what defenses are trying to do to me and I can make those fast, smart decisions while still protecting the football.”
The Texans have laid a foundation throughout OTA’s and now into minicamp and they expect that to build into training camp and into the season.
“We expect it to carry over a ton,” Hamilton said. “The OTA’s, this minicamp. It was kind of an orientation of what it is that we want to do. Now it’s time to take our system and continually acclimate our system to our playmakers. Our identity is about the players we have in the system and not about the plays, we’re excited to continue to work through the offseason and roll into training camp and pick up where we left off.”
And for Mills, he knows the expectations are high, but he can’t wait to have a chance to meet and maybe, exceed those expectations.
“It’s awesome,” Mills said “Obviously I have a lot to prove, and I have to go out there and win the job each and every day. I’m just trying to put my best foot forward every time we come out for practice. It’s just exciting and I’m determined to keep proving that to the guys.”