If C.J. Stroud doesn't start this weekend then it's Davis Mills time, right?

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans hasn't made a lot of mistakes as the team's head coach this season, but he has had a few. Not going with Devin Singletary earlier in the year as the feature back was definitely one of them, but the other big one was going with Case Keenum over Davis Mills in his search for a C.J. Stroud replacement.

Stroud's concussion left the Texans in a lurch and with the recent news that Stroud is back in Texans' practice and hopefully ready to return to the starting lineup this Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, the need for a replacement may no longer be a thing. Yet, concussions are tricky and Stroud being at practice doesn't mean he's symptom-free or even up to starting again as soon as Sunday.

The need for a backup may be there, and should that end up being the case, the Texans fandom has got to hope that Ryans would go with Mills this time around, instead of shoe-horning Keenum into the starting lineup. There's no real good reason for why he went with Keenum over Mills against the Tennessee Titans the first time around, where Keenum struggled all game and got a lucky touchdown off just in time to force overtime.

The Texans' offense was pretty impotent that game, however, and if it wasn't for the special teams, the Texans would be 7-8 right now, not 8-7. Then the Cleveland Browns fiasco occurred and Keenum looked outmatched. So the call was made for Mills to come in, and while he didn't look great, he did generate enough offense that he should be able to topple a team like the Titans if given the keys to the kingdom.

Stroud should be the one starting, obviously, but that's a "if he's healthy", situation. If he's not, the Texans can't afford to go with Keenum again, not if they want to make the playoffs.