Texans WR Nico Collins says C.J. Stroud did not allow interception rattle him

HOUSTON — For 10 seconds on Sunday, Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud experienced a feeling that had eluded him during the first five games of his NFL career. He threw his first interception after going 191 pass attempts without one. The second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft had broken Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s record of 176, entering into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints with 186.

On the Texans’ second offensive drive of the game, Stroud dropped back and saw his tight end Dalton Schultz in what he thought was open space until Saints linebacker Zack Braun came from the left side of the field and intercepted the pass. As he tried to make his way up the field, Braun had the ball punched out from behind by wide receiver Nico Collins, and offensive lineman Tytus Howard recovered it.

That was the roughest ten seconds Stroud would experience all game as he would lead his team on a six-play, 59-yard scoring drive capped off by a Schultz 1-yard touchdown pass after the interception on their way to a 20-13 defeat of the Saints to improve Houston’s record to 3-3 heading into the bye week.

“That just shows you what type of dude he is,” said Collins. “He is calm and collected, and that bad play is over with. We got the ball back and time to go score and put some points on the board, and that is what we did. We executed, and it is only going to get better for him, and we are going to continue to have his back and keep growing as a unit.”

“I don’t know what interception you are talking about, we seen Nico [Collins] knock the ball out, and we kept possession,” said a smiling Robert Woods, who caught a touchdown pass from Stroud against the Saints. “He is a resilient quarterback, just playing football. #Sarge pic.twitter.com/lLgUDtmmW2

— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) October 16, 2023

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans has been preaching about Stroud’s resiliency since training camp, and he was not surprised that his rookie quarterback shook off the turnover and proceeded with the game plan set by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. His execution after the interception that even some of the players forgot it happened.

 “I don’t know what interception you are talking about, we seen Nico knock the ball out, and we kept possession,” said a smiling Robert Woods, who caught a touchdown pass from Stroud against the Saints. “He is a resilient quarterback, just playing football. We were able to stay on the field, fortunately. He is a poised quarterback, always driving the ball downfield, and he didn’t change his demeanor after throwing one. He stayed attacking and pushing their defense.”