By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) — C.J. Stroud found Nico Collins for a touchdown pass on his second drive Saturday in Houston’s preseason win over the Carolina Panthers.
But he was unhappy with himself because he overthrew him on a deep ball on the Texans’ first drive, which was his preseason debut.
“He’s one of a kind, man,” Stroud said. “He’s a unicorn, fast, strong … route-running, release at line of scrimmage — he has it all. So it’s my job to connect with him and I owe him one from today.”
Despite that misfire the Texans (1-1) still came away with a 20-3 win.
Stroud, who sat out in last week’s 20-10 loss at Minnesota, played two series Saturday, going 6 for 8 for 44 yards. The Texans punted on their first possession before Stroud found Collins on the 5-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to cap the second drive and make it 7-0.
Collins is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons after he led the Texans with 68 receptions for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing five games with an injury.
Nick Chubb ran five times for 25 yards in his Texans’ debut after spending his first seven seasons in Cleveland. Chubb played with the starters with Joe Mixon out recovering from a foot injury he sustained this offseason.
Stroud, who has led the Texans to the postseason in both of his first two seasons, has a new offensive coordinator this year in Nick Caley after the former Patriots and Rams assistant was hired this offseason following the firing of Bobby Slowik.
“It was great, he’s still learning a lot,” Stroud said. “First time play caller, he handled it great. He’s very communicative. He loves to wire guys up and bring juice and I think it’s a great thing for offense and I’m excited to work with him.”
Carolina’s Bryce Young, the first overall pick in the 2023 draft when Stroud was taken second, failed to move the offense in two drives. He was 0 for 2 and was sacked once Saturday after directing the offense for two drives with a TD pass in last week’s 30-10 loss to Cleveland.
“Obviously, for us 1’s you want a different result,” Young said. “It (stinks), but that’s preseason football. You kind of get that sample size. Obviously, you want to go well early, get it done fast. We didn’t get it done today. Of course, we will go watch film tomorrow and go from that.”
Young won’t get any more work this preseason with coach Dave Canales saying he wouldn’t play his starters in the final preseason game next week for the Panthers (0-2).
Andy Dalton replaced Young and was 2 of 4 for 22 yards before leaving with what Canales said was a right elbow sprain. Canales said they’d know more about the injury after further testing Sunday.
Canales wasn’t too worried about Saturday’s results, but talked to his team about being better.
“A lot of good work out there,” he said. “To me, to sum it up, it was a day of almosts. I just kind of challenged the group like: ‘Are we going to be almost good? Are we going to make the plays when they’re there to be made?’”
Rookie Ryan Fitzgerald’s 52-yard field goal cut the lead to 7-3 about two minutes before halftime.
Ka’imi Fairbairn made a 41-yard field goal just before halftime and added a 35-yard kick early in the third quarter to push the lead to 13-3.
The Texans intercepted third-string quarterback Jack Plummer on consecutive drives in the second half. Damon Arnette grabbed the second one and three plays later the Texans made it 20-3 when British Brooks scored on a 1-yard run.
Arnette, a first-round pick in 2020, is attempting a comeback after his career was derailed by legal troubles and he played just 13 games over two seasons before being released by the Raiders. He hasn’t appeared in a regular-season NFL game since 2021 and last played for the UFL’s Houston Roughnecks.
Sitting out
Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn didn’t play because of a thumb injury and left guard Damien Lewis also sat out because of a shoulder injury.
Up next
Panthers: Wrap up the preseason Thursday night when they host Pittsburgh.
Texans: End their preseason Saturday at Detroit.