Texans rookie quarterback Graham Mertz ‘commanded’ offense over Lions in sharp performance: ‘Has a bright future here’

DETROIT – Rookie quarterback Graham Mertz delivered passes with pinpoint accuracy and timing.

He displayed command of the Texans’ offense, crisply orchestrating drives and throwing the football where only his teammates could get their hands on it.

Overall, the Texans’ preseason finale against the Detroit Lions was a revelation of sorts about Mertz. One year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his final season for the Florida Gators, the former Wisconsin quarterback saved his best performance of the preseason for the final one.

“I can go out there and operate the offense,” Mertz said after the Texans’ 26-7 win over the Lions at Ford Field. “You want to give the coaches that confidence every time you step out there. You can go out there and execute when your number is called, so I was excited to go out there and do that today.

“I was really appreciative about the plan the coaches put in place. Allowed us to go out there, play fast, play free. We had a lot of guys out there who just got here last week, so trying to navigate that, communicate, it was fun. It was a blessing to be out there.”

It was a stark contrast to his three-interception debut against the Minnesota Vikings. He finished 14 of 16 for 145 yards with a six-yard touchdown pass to Quintez Cephus. Although he wears a brace on his surgically repaired leg, he still rushed for 20 yards on two scrambles.

He exploited the Lions’ man coverage schemes, simply finding the open man and throwing it to him right away.

“You say let it rip, but it’s also calculated risk,” Mertz said. “You know they play a lot of man, but they also mix it up on the back end and play some different coverages and stuff like that. When they’re on man, you know you’ve got to be on and you’ve got to be ready to rip it.

“You’ve got to be on time, and then you have to trust your guys to go make plays. It’s that fine balance of, ‘I’m going to go out here and ball.” But it’s also calculated, you know? Sometimes you’ve got to check it down to the back, the zone it off, stuff like that. It’s just playing quarterback. It’s the fun part about playing quarterback. When you play a team that plays a lot of man, you take advantage of it.”

The way Mertz performed in this start likely cements his outlook for at least the practice squad.

Drafted in the sixth round and signed to a four-year $4.934 million contract that includes a $228,484 signing bonus Mertz is the Gators’ all-time leader in completion percentage.

“Really proud of Graham with the way he got in and really commanded the offense,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. ”He was under control, he played with great energy, great communication and did a really nice job of moving the ball up and down the field. I’m happy he was able to get some playing time, get some significant time.

“His first two games, I didn’t feel like he got enough significant playing time, was towards the ends of the games, so that was the reason why we went in with him first, just to get him more meaningful reps. I’ve been talking about guys taking advantage of the reps they’re given. Graham definitely did that, he has a bright future here.”

Two seasons ago, he went 5-6 as a starter and passed for 2,903 yards, 20 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Mertz set some passing records at Wisconsin, including 17 consecutive completions to tie a school record and broke the single-game completion percentage record with a 20-21 performance (95.2 percent). He tied a school record with five touchdown passes against Illinois.

Mertz acknowledged he felt some nerves in his first game against the Vikings, his NFL debut.

“I think just subconsciously, coming off my knee that quick, I think that kind of messed with me subconsciously,” Mertz said. “Blew it with frantic feet. But when you go out there and play a game like that in Minnesota, especially as a quarterback, you’ve got to learn from it.

“I learned from it quickly. I realized you’ve got to have your feet in control, your eyes in control, everything tied together when you’re playing. It was a really good learning experience, but I was ready to get out there and go play.”

In his final season at Wisconsin, he passed for 2,136 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Mertz was a Gatorade Kansas Football Player of the Year and named to the All-American Bowl as a senior as he threw five touchdown passes and was named Most Valuable Player. He passed for 3,886 yards and a state record 51 touchdowns as a senior.

He excelled Saturday in offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s quarterback-friendly offense.

“Nick has been awesome, just his overall scheme,” Mertz said. “I think the biggest thing is he puts a lot on the quarterback which is fun and that’s what you want as a quarterback. You want to be able to be in control of the protections, the run checks.

“Whether it’s pass concepts you can change, say they give you coverage zero, you’ve got a zero answer. So, it gives the quarterback a lot of freedom to make it right, that was one thing that in college I had that, too. So, coming into the league and having that right away was definitely fun because it was an easy transition.”

Roster watch

The Texans will have some tough roster decisions to make, especially at tight end, fullback and the secondary, to get down to the league limit of 53 players in the next two days.

Ryans likes the effort he saw from the guys vying for the final spots.

Running back-fullback British Brooks rushed for 23 yards on seven carries. He also had another big hit on special teams. Brooks is a strong contender to make the team again, primarily for his ability in kick coverage.

Running back Jawhar Jordan rushed for a team-high 44 yards on 13 carries and is also on the roster bubble toward the end of the running back depth chart.

Backup nickel Arthur Maulet had a sack and safety Jalen Mills had an interception.

“The main thing of this last preseason game, you just want to see guys go out, play with elite energy, play with elite execution,” Ryans said. “That’s all you do. You don’t worry about things you can’t control when it comes to the roster, making the team. No, you just go out and play.

“The decisions to make the roster doesn’t happen just on this one game. We know our guys, we’ve been watching these guys since offseason training. So, we know the type of guys that we have. I’ll say it again for me because all 90 guys I want to keep, because I know I can go to war with these guys. I know what they’re about.

Cephus, Powell shine

It was a strong game for newly-acquired wide receivers Cornell Powell and Quintez Cephus.

Powell caught six passes for 63 yards on seven targets.

Cephus caught four passes for 51 yards on seven targets against his old team.

And undrafted rookie wide receiver Daniel Jackson caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Kedon Slovis.

“Cephus has showed up,” Ryans said. “We had Cephus last year, he showed up, didn’t miss a beat. Really familiar with some of the offense. He’s really dialed in on learning what he needed to learn to get out there and play meaningful time.

“Cephus showed up in our joint practice versus the Lions making plays, and he showed up here again today in the game making plays. Cephus did a really nice job and just really want to thank our wide receiver coaches.”

Fatukasi all the way back

One of the standouts from the game: veteran defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi.

Arguably the top run-stopping interior lineman on the roster, Fatukasi started came on the physically unable to perform list after offseason shoulder surgery.

Fatukasi had three solo tackles against the Lions.

Reserve defensive tackle Tommy Togiai, in the running for one of the final roster spots, had a sack, as did international defensive tackle Haggai Ndubuisi.

“Foley, he’s been away for a while, he’s worked himself back. He’s able to go out, play meaningful ball, get some good reps,” Ryans said. “Tommy’s just been Mr. Consistent throughout training camp and it showed.”

Nothing new on Joe Mixon, C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Ryans didn’t shed light on the respective status of injured running back Joe Mixon and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

Mixon is on the non-football injury list due to a lingering foot-ankle issue. He was in a walking boot in the spring after getting hurt away from the team. He then wore a lace-up brace before regaining mobility over the summer. He visited an independent doctor, a podiatrist that specializes in breaking up scar tissue with electromagnetic therapy, before camp. The recovery has been described as tough and complicated, per sources. and Mixon is not regarded as a lock at all to be ready for the season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams.

Gardner-Johnson is making progress in his recovery from a knee injury and has been working on the side with trainers. He injured his knee at The Greenbrier in practice. The Texans will weigh whether he can be ready for the opener or if they should carry him through to the initial 53-man roster and not injured reserve in the hope of him being available in the first month of the season.

“For all our guys who are not here, all our guys they’re working and everybody is on their own timetable when it comes to getting back from injury,” Ryans said. “We’ll see where we are next week when we get back as we start to allow the roster to shake itself out. We’ll see where we end up with those guys. One thing about our guys who are not here, our staff is the best.

“They do an outstanding job of being there to support our guys, help them to, when they come back from injury, they’re back. So, I’m really thankful for the staff that I’m able to work with on a day-to-day basis because they do an outstanding job.”

Offensive line in focus

The starting offensive line is becoming more and more crystallized: left tackle Aireontae Ersery, left guard Laken Tomlinson, center Jake Andrews, right guard Ed Ingram and right tackle Tytus Howard.

That is likely the best configuration the team can work with at this time with Cam Robinson operating as the swing tackle in all likelihood.

All of those players were held out of the Lions game while they started left tackle Austin Deculus, left guard Jaylon Thomas, backup center Jarrett Patterson, right guard Juice Scruggs, the top interior backup and a lock to make the team, and right tackle Zach Thomas.

Also not playing Saturday: quarterbacks C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills, wide receivers Nico Collins, Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios, running back Nick Chubb, tight ends Dalton Schultz and Cade Stover, defensive tackles Mario Edwards Jr. and Sheldon Rankins, defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o, corners Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, nickel Jalen Pitre, safety Calen Bullock, safety Jaylen Reed (sprained knee), long snapper Austin Brinkman (oblique) and right tackle Blake Fisher (sprained ankle).

Long snapper Blake Ferguson had some bad snaps, leading to missed field goals by kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn. Brinkman is expected back by the Rams game, per a league source.

Backup linebacker Jake Hansen got dinged during the Lions game, but walked off the field under his own power with a trainer before being checked out in the blue medical tent and went back into the game. He started next to Christian Harris and E.J. Speed in a three-linebacker alignment, appearing in a dozen snaps on defense and two more on special teams.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com