Houston Texans rookie quarterback CJ Stroud would love to have a mulligan.
Stroud was among the thousands in attendance at the Houston Rockets' home game versus LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night, but he was also not there just to watch. Prior to tipoff, he tried to knock down a free throw for charity. However, he missed the shot and immediately knew he would get ribbed for it by his Texans teammates.
“I don’t care. They’re haters, anyway. They love me on the field,” Stroud told reporters, including Ben DuBose of US TODAY.
CJ Stroud’s #Rockets First Shot rattled out pic.twitter.com/btSSTZhdY8
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) November 9, 2023
Stroud showed solid form before releasing the ball, but he probably needed to work on his follow-through. He left his shot early there, it seems.
Fortunately for the Rockets, the Texans signal-caller's miss was not an indication of how the game would turn out against the Lakers, with Houston coming away with a 128-94 victory. As for the Rockets' free throws, they also did not do very well, going just 12-for-19 from the foul line, but they sank 54.8 percent of their shots from the field and 42.4 percent of their attempt from behind the arc.
Stroud and the Texans, meanwhile, are preparing for a Week 10 showdown against Joe Burrow and the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals on the road this coming Sunday.
The second-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft has been impressive so far in the regular season. He has 2,270 passing yards and 14 touchdowns with only an interception after nine weeks and had just passed for 470 yards and five touchdowns with zero INTs in a 39-37 Texans home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9.