It was a rough debut for CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans. Despite his on-field struggles though, he definitely impressed his teammates after the game.
When asked what his message to the offensive line would be, Stroud was careful not to throw them under the bus, but instead to stand by them and vow improvements on his end.
“Keep fighting. I'll be all right. I appreciate them hanging in there with me, fighting their tails off.” Stroud said in his press conference after the Texans fell to the Baltimore Ravens 25-9, per KPRC2s' Aaron Wilson.
Stroud also took stock of his own performance, noting that he has to “get the ball out and make better reads. It's a two-way street.”
The second overall pick in this year's draft began his career in an odd fashion. His first career pass completion was to himself, something only he and Brett Favre have done in NFL history. The Texans' first three drives on offense produced just four yards. Stroud took a sack on 4th and 1 in the season-opening drive.
The Baltimore defense ended up sacking Stroud five times and hit him 10 times. As a result, Stroud and the offense failed to fall into a rhythm, and failed to find the endzone.
Protecting Stroud is likely going to be a recurring issue for the Texans, at least to begin the season. Houston has a star in left tackle Laremy Tunsil and plenty of questions marks along the rest of the line.
Prior to Week 1, the team placed starting right tackle Tytus Howard on IR, meaning he will miss the first four games of the season. So too will rookie center Juice Scruggs, who was taking the place of Scott Quessenberry in the starting lineup after the veteran tore his ACL early in training camp.
Guard Kenyon Green will also miss the season after being placed on IR with a shoulder injury.
With all those injuries along the o-line, it would be easy for CJ Stroud to scapegoat the group after a less than stellar debut. But he stood by them and vowed to improve with them. That will surely earn him the respect of his teammates.
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