C.J. Stroud is fine entering the second day of minicamp. He made it clear after throwing during the early stages of team drills on Tuesday afternoon.
The Houston Texans’ third-year quarterback downplayed his limited participation during drills last week at voluntary OTAs due to general soreness in his shoulder. Stroud threw passes at practice for the first time with media in attendance after not throwing through the first two weeks of OTAs.
“I was already throwing before you guys got to see me out there, pretty normally, I think y’all don’t have much to talk about so everything is blown up,” Stroud said ater practice.
Stroud, who was limited during the second half of minicamp, blamed some of the soreness on his aggressive offseason in which he aimed to get stronger while learning the ins and out of Nick Caley’s offense. After practice, the Pro Bowler said he wasn’t worried about the injury as he expects occasional soreness since it comes with playing the position.
When asked if he underwent any procedure during the offseason, Stroud confirmed he was fully healthy and avoided a trip to the medical staff.
“I never thought too much of it. It’s not that big of [a deal],” Stroud said. “I’m fine. It’s not as bad as people making it seem.”
The Texans are hoping to get a revamped version of Stroud after a drop-off in 2024. Houston won the division and finished with a 10-7 record, but the defense did most of the heavy lifting, totaling a franchise record 46 sacks. While Stroud wants to be at practice, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans head coach elected to hold him out of drills.
If Stroud had it his way, he would have been throwing last week.
“It’s important for me to just make sure we’re protecting him,” Ryans said. “To make sure we know what’s best for C.J. and not really worry about the outside opinions. Nobody knows the information about our players more than me.”
The Texans return to practice on Wednesday morning before the end of minicamp.