'They Will Play': Texans Lovie Smith Reveals Offensive Plan Against 49ers
HOUSTON - - Questions and concerns have surrounded the future of the Houston Texans’ offense entering the regular season. Any doubts could be coming to an end on Thursday evening.
Texans coach Lovie Smith said that the projected starters “will play a lot more” in Houston’s third preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. Receiver Brandin Cooks, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, and offensive lineman Justin Britt have yet to take the field this preseason.
“This is the game we've kind of been shooting for to play the guys,” Smith said.
Houston sits at 2-0 this preseason thanks to back-to-back fourth-quarter comeback drives by projected third-string quarterback Jeff Driskel. The first-team offense, led by second-year quarterback Davis Mills, has been inconsistent at best during its eight drives of the preseason.
Mills, who currently is trying to prove he can be the long-term answer at quarterback for Houston, finished Friday’s 24-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams on the right note. Going 4 of 7 for 60 yards and a touchdown with seconds remaining in the first half, the drive marked the first time since Week 18 that Mills had thrown a touchdown pass.
Smith isn’t worried about the inconsistencies of Mills and the offense for now. In large part, the absence of three potential starting linemen has hurt the team’s pass protection. On Friday, Mills was sacked twice for a loss of 25 yards.
“We haven’t played our entire offense together,” Smith said. “We’ve had two, three offensive linemen out, a tight end who is not in there, a running back who wasn’t in there, a wide receiver who wasn’t in there. I wouldn’t put that much into it.”
Tunsil and Britt are two of the linemen mentioned. The third would be rookie offensive guard Kenyon Green, who missed the previous two weeks due to a concussion. Drafted 15th overall out of Texas A&M, Green returned to practice for the first time last week but was held out Friday for precautionary reasons.
Smith said there haven’t been any signs of lingering effects from the injury, meaning Green could play at some point Thursday. When asked if Green was expected to be the Week 1 starter at left guard, Smith declined to comment on the rookie’s status with either the first- or second-team offense.
“Normally, a first-round draft pick will eventually move into that role, but it will play itself out,” Smith said.
Defensively, Houston is expected to see defensive end Jerry Hughes, and defensive tackle Maliek Collins suit up with the first-team defense. Collins, who signed a two-year, $17 million deal this offseason, starred as the team’s starting three-tech last season. Hughes, a standout for the Buffalo Bills, was added for a veteran presence on the defensive line.
Rookie linebacker Christian Harris is not expected to play after suffering a soft tissue injury at the start of training camp. Smith said that the injury would not be season-ending, but there wasn’t an exact timetable on Harris’ return date.
“Whenever you have an injury on a young player it's not an ideal situation, but eventually he'll be out there," Smith said. "We can't wait. He's going to help us win a lot of games eventually.”
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