The Houston Texans are rumored to be courting the idea of making a change at quarterback in Week 12 against the Miami Dolphins, and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton fielded some tough questions at the team’s Wednesday press conference about what has led them to this point. After sticking by Davis Mills for 10 games with just a 1-8-1 record to show for it, the Texans’ coaching staff has a lot to answer for if they intend to keep their jobs heading into 2023.
Mills had made a comment following Houston’s Week 11 loss to the Washington Commanders about how the Texans’ offense could only thrive if there was more creativity in their approach. Asked whether he thought Mills was referring to the running or passing game in that remark, Hamilton deflected and pointed out the strength of the defenses his unit has been up against in recent weeks.
“I’m not sure,” Hamilton said. “We hadn’t discussed that specially. I wasn’t necessarily aware of exactly what he said, but I would agree that we’re going to face really good defenses from week-to-week. It starts with me. We’ve got to find ways to extenuate the strengths of our guys. Like I said, we feel good about our offensive line as a whole.
“That’s where it all starts for us. Coach [Lovie Smith] stands up here week-to-week and talks often about being physical at the line of scrimmage, being able to run the football, and everything comes off of us running the football. We just didn’t do that well enough this past Sunday.”
Though rookie running back Dameon Pierce has found success in 2022 as the team’s leading rusher, last week’s result clearly showed that the Texans’ offense will stall if he isn’t able to put up prolific numbers. It will now be Hamilton’s job to find a solution to put points on the board without leaning too much on one player, especially if he intends to make a quarterback switch against an opponent as capable as the Dolphins this late in the year.
