Rookie quarterback Davis Mills is expected to make his first career start for Houston after entering Sunday’s game to replace Tyrod Taylor. Mills went 8-of-18 for 102 yards and a touchdown and interception.
Mills was drafted out of Stanford in the third round of this year’s draft with Houston’s first pick in the draft. He only played in 14 total games in college, including just five in 2020 due to the pandemic. He struggled some in this year’s preseason, posting a passer rating of 47.8 after throwing for 333 yards on 31-of-65 passing with two touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Panthers scouted him during the pre-draft process, and watched film of his preseason action, but there’s a limited body of evidence.
Mills will rely on speedy wideout Brandin Cooks who caught his only touchdown in Sunday’s second half. Cooks currently ranks 14th among active NFL players with 7,090 career receiving yards. Cooks has 14 receptions for 210 yards this year, while no other Texan has more than 70 yards.
Former Saint and Raven Mark Ingram is now in Houston where he has 125 yards rushing, averaging 3.0 yards per carry.
Milestones in Reach
Christian McCaffrey
- Needs a game with a rushing and receiving TD to pass Minnesota’s Chuck Foreman (9) for the most such games in a player’s first five seasons in the NFL
- Needs 22 rushing yards to pass DeShaun Foster (3,336) for fourth in Panthers history
- Needs six receiving TDs to pass Devin Funchess (21) for fifth in franchise history
- Needs five scrimmage TDs (rush + receiving) to pass Muhsin Muhammad (50) for fifth and needs 13 scrimmage TDs to pass Cam Newton (58) for second in franchise history
- Needs 323 scrimmage yards to pass Greg Olsen (6,463) for fifth in Panthers history
DJ Moore
- Needs 588 receiving yards to pass Wesley Walls (3,902) for fourth place in Panthers history
Haason Reddick
- Needs 1.5 sacks to join Julius Peppers (2004) as only players in franchise history with at least 1.5 sacks in three consecutive games in the same season.
Haason Reddick, Brian Burns
- Each need 1.0 sack at Houston to tie Mike Rucker/Mark Fields (2002, Wks 15-17) and Kevin Greene/Lamar Lathon (1996, Wks 14-16) for longest streaks of games (3) that Panthers teammates each recorded a sack.
Shaq Thompson
- Needs 21 tackles to pass Chris Gamble (493) for fifth all time in Panthers history
Donte Jackson
- Needs five interceptions to pass Richard Marshall/Doug Evans (14) for fifth all-time in franchise history
Brian Burns
- Needs 2.5 sacks to pass Kris Jenkins (20.5) for seventh among defensive linemen in Panthers history
Jeremy Chinn
- Needs 35 tackles to pass Will Witherspoon (157) for the most tackles in the first two seasons by a non-middle linebacker.
https://www.panthers.com/news/panthers-texans-game-preview-tnf-week-3-2021
