Joint Practices Aid Texans QB C.J. Stroud's Development

There are advantages to the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins holding joint practices, and the most important might be the growth of quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Players in the NFL aren't just there because of their athletic abilities. Their football IQ is among the best in the world, so it's safe to assume with their mental capacity and facing their teammates every day in practice, they start to pick up on certain tendencies pretty quickly.

With a young quarterback in C.J. Stroud, seeing as many different defensive looks is pertinent to his development — Stroud sees a different defense and the Houston Texans defense sees a different quarterback. Houston's joint practices against the Miami Dolphins this week is a win-win for Stroud's growth as a signal-caller.

"With C.J., with all our quarterbacks, what I wanted to see today was just those guys operate seeing a different defense, seeing a different scheme, seeing different pressures coming in, and seeing the guys operate clean and smoothly," head coach DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday. "Our guys made some plays. It was cool to see."

Stroud said the Patriots threw a different game plan at him and the Texans, which was something he and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik had to correct on the fly.

How does Stroud correct that? Reps, reps, and more reps against different defensive play styles.

Ryans said Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's system is a "very disciplined style of defense."

"They force you to earn every yard that you get," Ryans said. "The good part about going against this scheme is five-down fronts is different from our scheme, so our offense has to do a different job of communicating, different jobs of who they're blocking, who they're targeting. It just allows us to just get better offensively and communicate."

Stroud threw three touchdowns against the Dolphins' defense Wednesday and was seen talking with Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after practice as well.

Despite Ryans not committing to a workload total for Stroud on Saturday, each joint practice is a step in him potentially becoming a standout in the rookie quarterback class.

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You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419

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