This spring, the Texans took a big gamble on scrambling Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, making him the No. 2 pick of the NFL draft and putting the franchise’s future in his hands. In his much-awaited debut on Thursday at Gillette Stadium, though, the Patriots obliterated Stroud, who played only two series and looked overmatched against what was mostly New England second-stringers.
Stroud completed his first pass of the night in Foxborough, an 8-yard throw to Nico Collins. But Stroud was sacked for a 15-yard loss three plays later, and two plays after that, he tossed a terribly thrown interception to Jalen Mills in the middle of the field.
Stroud Boys stand back and stand by. Jalen Mills is a great cornerback there are very good ppl on both side’s of this play
Stroud completed one pass in the next series, which ended when he scrambled for just 2 yards on a 3rd-and-4 situation at his own 46-yard line. That was it for his night, which ended with 2-for-4 passing, a sack, an interception and a quarterback rating of—gulp—17.7.
As Nate Tice, a former scout and coach in the NFL who now does The Football Show podcast for The Athletic, wrote on Twitter, “Think CJ Stroud felt more pressure in his first two NFL preseason drives than in two years at Ohio State.”
Mills Poised for Big Season?
For the Patriots, it was a good start for Mills, who has the opportunity to build on a good year in 2022 with plenty of opportunities throughout the defensive backfield this year now that safety Devin McCourty has retired. Mills has played a lot of safety in his career, but has mostly been a corner with the Patriots.
He said during the team’s OTAs that he is comfortable flipping between positions and can line up with safeties Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers.
“It’s really on [the coaches],” Mills said at the time. “Guys in the secondary, we come out in the huddle. I might be out there with Pep and Dugg, and they’re like, ‘Hey Mills, go to nickel this drive.’
“Or they might be like, ‘Hey, go get on a tight end this drive.’ … So I think it’s just, we talk about the versatility of guys being able to play every different thing.”
Texans Wanted Stroud to ‘Not Blink’
As for Stroud, suffice it to say that, going back two days to what Texans coach DeMeco Ryans had to say about tonight’s game, Houston was disappointed. Small sample size, just preseason, first game—all that is true. But Ryans said at the time that he was not necessarily looking for Stroud to be a star from the first snap, he just wanted him to not be intimidated.
“I just want to see those guys not blink,” Ryans said. “I want to see them go out and continue to do what they’ve done in practice, not try to make too many big plays or try to put the team — it’s just about them focusing on their craft and what they’re doing.”
It was a preseason game, Ryans said. He wanted his players, including Stroud, to take it that way.
“I want to see guys go out there and not make it too big. I want to see that the game isn’t too big for guys. I want to see guys operate efficiently — guys fly around, have some fun playing the game.”
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Patriots Shred Vaunted Rookie QB CJ Stroud in NFL Preseason Debut