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‘C.J. Goes First!’ Texans Reveal Stroud to Start vs. Dolphins

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud showed signs of being a rookie in his preseason debut, but will get a shot at redemption Saturday against the Miami Dolphins.
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The Houston Texans are rolling with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud under center.

Head coach DeMeco Ryans announced Thursday that Stroud will be the Texans' starting quarterback for Houston's preseason home opener against the Miami Dolphins Saturday. Stroud, who was Houston's No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, started in the Texans' first preseason game against the New England Patriots.

"All our players will play," Ryans said. "All our players will see time in the game, and that's how we'll go about it. C.J. will go out first, again as he did last week, and we'll judge the game as it goes along."

Stroud threw an interception his second-career pass on what looked to be a misread coverage. The Rancho Cucamonga, California, native wanted to hit wide receiver Tank Dell on a 15-yard route, but Patriots safety Jalen Mills read Stroud's eyes and jumped the route.

The interception was the only real blemish on Stroud's day in which he didn't have much time in the pocket with injury absences to tackle Tytus Howard and center Scott Quessenberry. He was sacked once and scrambled twice for six yards.

Stroud completed two of his four pass attempts for 13 yards and an interception with a 13.3 passer rating.

The Texans will kick off against the Dolphins at 3 p.m. CT Saturday at NRG Stadium on NFL Network.


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