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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPN
HOUSTON — One aspect of quarterback C.J. Stroud‘s game that Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has praised throughout training camp is his week-to-week improvement.
The Texans lost 28-3 to the Miami Dolphins in their second preseason game Saturday, but Stroud showed that improvement, going 7-for-12 passing for 60 yards and leading the offense to its only points while playing the entire first half.
It came a week after the No. 2 overall pick went 2-for-4 passing for 13 yards and an interception against the New England Patriots.
“So proud of the progress that CJ took this week. That’s what we want to see,” Ryans said. “You want to see improvement week-to-week, and that’s what we saw this week.”
Stroud felt the game was “slowing down a bit” as the starting offense executed better Saturday.
“I felt like I took a step. Definitely got to clean up some things, but overall, I felt like I got in a good rhythm,” he said. “And I started playing football like I’m used to. It felt good, great protection up front, ran the ball pretty decently. Just off on a few things here and there, so just got to clean those up, man, but it’s a blessing.”
Stroud was helped by improved protection, which provided a cleaner pocket for him to operate within against the Dolphins. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil and right guard Shaq Mason both played after sitting out the preseason opener, and Stroud was under pressure on 16.7% of his dropbacks compared to 60% last week.
“I think everyone can see that our offensive line, they protected much better this week,” Ryans said. “That was good to see. That’s what we needed from our offensive line. I challenged them in last night’s meeting and before the game, making sure … that the quarterback had a good pocket to throw from.”
The Texans’ opening drive began on the Miami 7-yard line after linebacker Denzel Perryman intercepted Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on the game’s opening play. The offense didn’t score as Stroud missed on two pass attempts, and the unit turned over the ball on downs.
But Stroud regrouped and went 7-for-10 after that, including first-down passes to Robert Woods on an 11-yard out-breaking pass on third down and then to Noah Brown while on the run for a 14-yard gain.
Stroud kept the offense on time and quickly read the Dolphins defense before passing; his time to throw was 2.36 seconds compared to 2.9 against New England.
“Definitely think I gotta good grove and a good rhythm,” Stroud said. “And after that, we started clicking, started getting some good completions and spreading the ball around the field.”
Despite Stroud’s improvement from the first week to the second, Ryans said he isn’t ready to name him the starter for Week 1 at the Baltimore Ravens. He’s been competing with last year’s starter, Davis Mills, for the job.
“We’ll have a starter in Baltimore. It’s the same as I said previously,” Ryans said. “You guys will see the starter when we get to Baltimore.”