DJ Bien-Aime
HOUSTON — After throwing at mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud downplayed his limited participation at OTAs due to general soreness in his shoulder.
During minicamp, Stroud threw passes at practice for the first time with media in attendance after not throwing through the first couple weeks of OTAs. Stroud blamed some of the soreness on his aggressive offseason in which he aimed to get stronger, faster and trim body fat.
The soreness subsided and Stroud led the Texans’ offense throughout Day 1 of minicamp.
“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 with a smile. “I’m fine, man.”
Stroud ran with the first-team offense and had no noticeable concerns as he made sharp throws to rookie wideout Jayden Higgins and veteran Christian Kirk during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11. Stroud’s throws had his typical velocity and there were no moments when he appeared to be in any type of pain.
Stroud was never worried about the injury as he expects occasional soreness in his shoulder as a quarterback. He also squashed potential speculation that he underwent any type of noteworthy treatment.
“I never thought too much of it. It’s not that big of [a deal]. And I did not get surgery or anything like that,” Stroud said. “I’m fine. It’s not as bad as people making it seem.”
Coach DeMeco Ryans further explained why Stroud didn’t throw until Day 1 of minicamp by saying he was just protecting his quarterback.
“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.”
