The Houston Texans have dug themselves a deep hole in the AFC South race. They're just 3-5  at the halfway point, a full 3.5 games behind the red-hot Indianapolis Colts. They're even behind the 5-3 Jacksonville Jaguars, their opponent on Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston.

They'll also have to try to close the gab without their best player, quarterback C.J. Stroud. He was injured in Sunday's 18-15 loss to the Denver Broncos, suffering a concussion after a hit in the first quarter. He did not return, and will also miss the game with the Jaguars.

Davis Mills, a 27-year-old former Stanford star who's been with the Texans for five years, has played 40 games during his career. So he knows what he's doing — but everyone around him needs to pick it up a notch.

Here's the story from Texans Roundtable reporter B. Keith Creer III on how things change with the Texans' offense with Mills on the field.

Adjusting to Mills in The Pocket: How Should the Playbook Look Against Jacksonville? With Stroud out, the Texans offense must adapt. Can Nick Caley unlock efficiency and red zone scores with Davis Mills?

It's safe to assume that the Texans will keep it close. All five losses are by eight points or less, and they've had a shot in the fourth quarter in all of them. That's what has made this 2025 season especially frustrating so far.

The loss to Denver last Sunday was especially frustrating. Mills was 17-for-30 passing for 137 yards, and Houston was 0-for-3 in the red zone. They converted just 3-of-17 third-down tries.

“I'm disappointed as a team that we didn’t finish the game,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters after the game. “The defense, they did a good job of getting stops multiple times. We just sputtered there offensively, we lacked just being able to move the ball. We lacked just being able sustain drives there in the second half. It just wasn’t good enough.”