Texans Head Coach DeMeco Ryans Gives Key Injury Update To The Status Of Quarterback C.J. Stroud As He Returns To Practice

When the Houston Texans players jogged out of their practice bubble onto the field at the Methodist Training Center for their final practice before their primetime game on Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills, they were joined by familiar faces who had not been on a football field since early November.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud and defensive back Jalen Pitre participated in stretching and individual drills on Tuesday, but were limited once again this week.

After practice, they were both ruled out for the game against the Bills, as they still need to clear concussion protocol after sustaining the injury against the Denver Broncos in Week 9.

According to the NFL’s concussion policy, a player in the protocol must have two successful practices with no symptoms and be cleared by an independent physician.

“To start with injury updates, C.J. [Stroud] and Jalen [Pitre] will be out,” said Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. “Both guys are progressing, they’re doing better, but right now with the short turnaround game on Thursday, [we just don’t have enough days for those guys to be available.

“It’s really encouraging to see both guys out, being able to practice and go through those things. It is encouraging to see that they are making those steps to get themselves back healthy.”

With the news of Stroud being unavailable, reserve quarterback Davis Mills will make his third consecutive start for the Texans as he seeks another win to help keep Houston in playoff contention in the AFC.

“I think the main goal of each week, and what it has been, is going out there and playing efficient football, executing at a really high level and trying to find a way to win the game,” Mills said in his press conference on Tuesday. “We’ve been successful at that the past two weeks and we’re trying to keep it rolling in this third week.”

Mills has gone 2-0 in his last two starts in Stroud’s absence, completing 53 of 86 passes for a 61.7% completion rate, totaling 566 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception, defeating divisional rivals the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans. 

Yet, he will need to have a nearly perfect performance against the Bills, who are coming off a blowout win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and have one of the best defenses in the NFL.

“They have a great defense,” Mills responded when asked about the Bills’ defense. “They disguise a lot in coverage, a lot of different blitz packages where they’re showing one thing and end up getting to another thing post-snap. It’s a credit to them. They do it at a high level. A lot of those guys have played together for a long time, so they’re able to kind of feed off each other and make each other look good and make each other’s disguises actually believable.

“So, a lot of our game plan is just not letting the pre-snap stuff bog you down too much and really just reacting and playing fast post-snap to see those spaces in the coverage, see how everything rotates post-snap so we can get the ball out fast and continue to drive down the field and be efficient.”

Barring any setback, Stroud should make his return in Week 13 against the AFC South divisional leader, the Indianapolis Colts.