The Houston Texans gave C.J. Stroud the opportunity, and he looked callow.
The No. 2 overall pick threw an interception on his first drive against the New England Patriots, and then the Texans went three-and-out on the next series. Stroud’s night was over by the third drive as Davis Mills took over.
While Stroud’s stat line of 2-4 for 13 yards and an interception suggests his early benching was due to poor performance, coach DeMeco Ryans clarified the objective was always to give Stroud a limited foray into live action — regardless of mistakes made.