HOUSTON (AP) — C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are looking for answers after their passing game couldn’t get going in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Houston’s passing attack had been a strength all season, and the Texans ranked fifth in yards passing per game through their first six games. But on Sunday at Lambeau Field, Stroud was limited to a career-low 86 yards in the 24-22 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.
Stroud was 10 of 21 and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The second-year player was under duress for much of the day and was sacked four times and hit seven other times.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “As we watch the film, we’ll see what happened, starting for me the communication and just guys being on the details of the job.”
The Texans scored a season-high 41 points in a win over New England a week earlier in which Stroud threw a season-best three touchdown passes despite being without star receiver Nico Collins.
They were unable to replicate that success Sunday with Collins out for the second of at least four games after a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.
Stefon Diggs led the team with five receptions against the Packers, but they only amounted to 23 yards. Tank Dell, who the Texans expected to step up with Collins out, was targeted four times but didn’t have a catch.
Stroud discussed the importance of getting Dell more involved in the offense.
“We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there,” he said. “It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”
The Texans have forced seven turnovers combined in their last two games after they hadn’t caused any in their previous three games.
Houston scored 16 points off three turnovers Sunday. The Texans had two interceptions and recovered a fumble on a punt. In their win over the Patriots, they scored 17 points off a season-high four turnovers.
The Texans won’t get to where they want to be this season if Stroud doesn’t get back on track. Before Sunday, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was averaging more than 262 yards passing a game, giving the team confidence that the problems in the passing game are fixable.
Ryans knows the line must give Stroud more time to throw and said the coaching staff will focus on improving in that area this week.
RB Joe Mixon continued to shine Sunday in his second game back after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, had 25 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay.
Mixon is confident the Texans will rebound this week if they quit making mistakes.
“Does it look I’m worried? I’m not worried at all,” he said. “Like I said, we got a ... good football team. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemy.”
Dell was unable to help Stroud get the passing game going. The second-year player had a solid rookie season with 709 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. But he hasn’t been able to build on that success this year and has just 194 yards receiving with one score in six games.
LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), LB Henry To’oTo’o (concussion), CB Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and S Jimmie Ward (groin) all missed Sunday’s game and it’s unclear if any of these starters can return this week.
3 — Safety Calen Bullock had his third interception Sunday to tie Dunta Robinson and Jumal Rolle for most interceptions by a rookie in franchise history through the first seven games. He leads NFL rookies in interceptions this season and is tied for third-most among all players.
The AFC South-leading Texans (5-2) return to division play Sunday when they host the second-place Colts (4-3), who have won two in a row and four of five.
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Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (28) runs past Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Texans look to fix struggling passing attack after close loss to Packers
Texans look to fix struggling passing attack after close loss to Packers
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) tries to get past Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary (52) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man whose execution was halted after lawmakers ordered Robert Roberson to appear at the state Capitol did not show up as planned Monday after a dispute over transporting a person on death row for the extraordinary purpose of testifying in a public hearing.
His absence at a highly anticipated hearing at the Texas Capitol was another twist in last-ditch efforts to spare Roberson's life over claims that outdated science and faulty evidence led to his 2003 conviction in the death of his 2-year-old daughter.
It also opened tensions between a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say Roberson is innocent and state Republican leaders, including Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who say the unusual maneuver by legislators to subpoena Roberson at the last minute in an attempt to buy more time crossed a line.
Roberson had been set last Thursday to become the first person in the U.S. executed over a murder conviction connected to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. He was taken to America's busiest death chamber and was waiting in a holding cell when the Texas Supreme Court abruptly halted plans to give him a lethal injection.
Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody, the chairman of a state House committee that led efforts to stop the execution, said as Monday's hearing opened that Roberson likely would not appear but that lawmakers still hoped he would do so soon.
“If this committee wanted to take a heavy-handed approach, there are dramatic ways that we could enforce that subpoena,” Moody said. “But we didn't issue the subpoena to create a constitutional crisis, and we aren't interested in creating division between branches of government.”
The Texas Attorney General's Office had told lawmakers that Roberson would only appear by videoconference, which Moody said would be “poorly suited” for Roberson because he is autistic.
“That doesn’t mean Robert won’t testify at all,” said Moody, without saying when Roberson might testify or how.
Among those testifying Monday about Roberson’s case was daytime television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw and best-selling author John Grisham. The veteran talk show host McGraw threw his full support behind Roberson, stating that there was not enough evidence to convict him of a crime.
“If you execute people when you now know better, you need to abolish the death penalty. If that's the standard by which you're gonna execute people, you've got a bad system,” McGraw said.
Roberson's claims of innocence are backed by a group of Republican and Democratic legislators who say he was convicted based on outdated science.
Roberson received the death penalty for the 2002 death of daughter Nikki Curtis in the East Texas city of Palestine. Prosecutors argued that the infant’s death was caused by serious head trauma from being violently shaken back and forth. Roberson’s attorneys say that the bruising on Curtis’ body was likely due to complications with severe pneumonia and not child abuse.
Once Roberson testifies to lawmakers, prosecutors could seek a new execution date at any time, according to Gretchen Sween, one of his attorneys.
Lawmakers had sought to have Roberson transported from death row to appear in person, raising the possibility of an extraordinary scene in the Texas Capitol. However, the state attorney general's office told the committee he would appear virtually.
Abbott's office said the Texas Supreme Court should toss out the subpoena, writing that the House committee has “stepped out of line” in their first public statement on the case.
Almost 90 lawmakers across party lines, medical experts and civil rights advocates had called on Abbott to stay his execution. Abbott has not commented on Roberson’s case and the Texas parole board rejected pleas to grant clemency.
Rebuffed by the courts and Texas’ parole board in their efforts to spare Roberson’s life, legislators last Thursday subpoenaed Roberson to testify. Lawmakers on the House committee have expressed frustration with Texas' junk science law, which they say has failed to work as intended, including in Roberson's case.
The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as a uniquely future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on faulty science. But Roberson’s supporters say his case points to faults in the judicial system where the law has been weakened by deliberate misinterpretation from the state’s highest criminal court.
In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and ruled on under the junk science law. A third of applications were submitted by people facing the death penalty. All of them were unsuccessful.
Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, has previously told the committee that a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.
Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Texas Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, right, talks with Rachel Wetsel, clerk for the state House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, left, as a witness gives testimony in the committee hearing regarding the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, holds a statement as he questions a witness during the committee hearing regarding the death row case of Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The state House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence listens to testimony from Terre Compton, sitting at table center left, a resident of Palestine, Texas, and a member of the jury that convicted Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraw, in blue suit sitting at table, gives testimony to the state House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence during a committee hearing in the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraw, in blue suit, leaves the room after giving testimony to a committee discussing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraw, in blue suit, leaves the room after giving testimony to a committee discussing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraws, in blue suit gesturing with hand, makes comments during a committee hearing in the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraws, in blue suit gesturing with hands, makes comments during a committee hearing in the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraws, in blue suit gesturing with hand, makes comments during a committee hearing in the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraw stands as he leaves the room after giving testimony to a committee discussing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dr. Phil McGraw, center, leaves the room after giving testimony to a committee discussing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Barrett Hess, left, and Marcella Marino, right, hold signs as they stand outside a room where a committee is discussing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
A person waiting outside a hearing room watches a live feed of the committee hearing as State Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, makes comments Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Capitol staff members look into a room where a committee is is discussing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Media members are seen inside a hearing room where committee members are discussing the case of deathrow inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Sascha Anderson, right, and Sam McRae, left, hold signs as they stand outside a room where a committee is discusing the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III comment during a press conference after the stay granted by the Texas Supreme Court to halt the execution of Robert Roberson, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Jennifer Martin, left, and Thomas Roberson, older brother of condemned prisoner Robert Roberson, right, holds signs as they protest outside the prison where Roberson is scheduled for execution at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers
Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers
FILE - Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2024. (Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP, File)
