After throwing three interceptions in two days earlier this week, rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud put together arguably his best performance of training camp Friday.
Stroud went 7-of-11 with a touchdown and an interception in team drills. The touchdown came on the first series of drills. Stroud hit wide receiver Nico Collins with a 40-yard pass for his second touchdown of camp. Collins ran a go route and got behind cornerback Shaquill Griffin. Stroud delivered the pass on time, hitting Collins in stride.
It was an impressive throwing performance for the No. 2 overall pick in April’s draft.
However, Stroud made one mistake at the end of practice when he threw an interception in coverage. There appeared to be a miscommunication on the play, as there was no receiver in sight. Linebacker Denzel Perryman was backpedaling in zone coverage when the ball came his way. He didn’t have to do much to pick it off.
Stroud immediately threw his hand up as if to signal that the mistake was his fault.
Other than that, it was a pretty flawless performance for Stroud, who took all the first-team reps in practice. Stroud and Davis Mills have split first-team reps most of camp.
“Stroud is doing a great job,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He’s improving. It’s something we ask all of our guys when it comes to his development and what do you expect from training camp.”
Mills was solid, too. He was 8-of-10 and had an interception but also had some nice throws.
Ryans did not say whether Stroud will continue to take first-team reps, or whether he would continue to switch with Mills. Regardless, a starter has not been named yet. The Texans have a Saturday night practice open to fans.
Some more observations from Friday's practice:
Stroud taking off
The one criticism of Stroud in the pre-draft process was his athleticism and whether he could take off or make off-script throws when the pocket collapsed. So far, he’s shown a tendency to run when his receivers aren’t open.
Stroud scrambled for a first down early in practice and ran toward the sideline, avoiding safety Jalen Pitre, who was closing in on him. Pitre and Stroud, who are friends, exchanged some trash talk with each other as they nearly made contact. Neither Pitre nor Stroud backed down.
Good and bad with Kenyon Green
The good is that Green, who is entering his second year in the league, looks healthy. The left guard has taken the majority of the first-team reps, which is a positive sign after he missed all of the offseason workouts and mandatory minicamp while he rehabbed from an arthroscopic knee procedure.
The bad is that he committed two costly back-to-back false start penalties. The penalties occurred when the Texans’ first-team offense had the ball inside their own 5-yard line. The penalties pushed them back further into an impossible situation to get out.
Three takeaways from defense
The defense has outplayed the offense early in camp, and that’s what usually happens especially when the pads come on.
The defense was responsible for three turnovers, including a strip-sack from rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr. — who wasn’t supposed to touch the quarterback — an interception from safety M.J. Stewart and the aforementioned interception from Perryman.
Creating turnovers has been a point of emphasis for Ryans and his defense since he arrived in Houston. His 49ers were tied for second in the NFL with 30 takeaways in 2022. It’s a primary reason they had the league’s No. 1 ranked defense.
The Texans weren’t far behind. They had 27.