Rookie NFL head coach DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans announced that rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud (#2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft from Ohio State) will start the team’s first preseason game against the New England Patriots on Thursday, August 11.
Note: In his typical clandestine way, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick hasn’t yet announced which QB will start for him at Gillette Stadium.
Prior to the announcement, Ryans was interviewed and asked about the competition between and maturation of both his two quarterbacks — Stroud and Davis Mills. (Mills played at Stanford before he was selected by the Texans in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.)
How has the development of C.J. Stroud been in @houstontexans camp?@DRyans59 talked with @SlaterNFL and @TomPelissero after practice. pic.twitter.com/XGqM1Qm5yj
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 7, 2023
When NFL Insider’s Tom Pelissero presses Ryans to admit that Stroud has won the QB “competition,” Ryans mentions the future preseason game against the Ravens — and corrects himself, “I mean the Patriots.” Pelissero interrupts Ryans, laughs and says, “that’s a Freudian slip right there.” All three on the set have a big laugh — and Pelissero jokes, “Got him, finally!”
Houston Texans will open their 2023 season against the Baltimore Ravens on September 10 at M&T Bank Stadium. It will be Ryans’s first game as coach of the Texans. Ryans has said that the Ravens are “a very tough team.”
Stroud, by the way, is the highest drafted quarterback in Ohio State’s football-rich history. (Fun note: The former Alabama linebacker Ryans was selected by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft.)
The Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots preseason game will broadcast live on Thursday, August 10 at 7 pm ET.
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