Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has been ruled out for his team’s Sunday afternoon matchup with the Tennessee Titans due to a concussion, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
Stroud initially suffered the concussion during his team’s loss to the New York Jets last weekend. He was initially listed as doubtful for Week 15 and did not travel with the team to Nashville.
The Texans will have both Case Keenum and Davis Mills available as their quarterbacks in Stroud’s absence.
With Houston in the middle of the playoff hunt and desperately needing a win this weekend, this is obviously devastating news for the club.
Stroud, who went just 10-for-23 with 91 yards against the Jets before exiting, has been having a brilliant rookie campaign. Through 13 games, he has thrown for 3,631 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 62.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 98.7.
The 22-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Ohio State, was selected by the Texans with the second overall pick of the NFL Draft last spring. Only fellow quarterback Bryce Young, who is a friend of Stroud’s, went before him.
No one expected Houston to contend for much of anything this season, but Stroud’s brilliance has pushed the Texans into shocking playoff contention.
C.J. Stroud and Co. got off to an 0-2 start this year and looked primed to fulfill everyone’s low expectations, but they then proceeded to win six of their next eight games to improve to 6-4 and work their way into the AFC playoff conversation.
Overall, Houston is 7-6. The problem for the Texans is that there are five other teams in the AFC who are also 7-6 and are jostling for playoff positioning.
Following its matchup with Tennessee this weekend, Houston will battle the Cleveland Browns, the Titans (again) and the Indianapolis Colts to close out the regular season.
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