C.J. Stroud reacts to Texans getting 'embarrassed' by Jets

The NFL community was surprised to learn that outlets such as ESPN Bet listed the 2-6 New York Jets side as a 2.5-point favorite for Thursday's game against a Houston Texans team that entered MetLife Stadium at 6-2. 

After the Texans lost 21-13 to the Jets, Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud suggested that he and his teammates produced an unacceptable performance in East Rutherford, NJ.

"To come out here on a prime-time game and get embarrassed, that is never fun," Stroud said, as ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime shared. "We have to be better in a lot of areas, and it starts with me. There's plays I got to make, throws I got to make. I point the finger at me and realize I got to be better as a football player. ...This is definitely a great wake-up call for us to tighten up the ship."

While the Texans were without both No. 1 wide receiver Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs on Thursday due to injury setbacks, that doesn't explain why Stroud took a whopping eight sacks and 11 quarterback hits in the defeat. He fumbled the ball away in the red zone on one first-quarter sack, and he completed only 11-of-30 (36.7%) total pass attempts for 191 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. 

"One thing I can do is just get the ball out faster," Stroud acknowledged. "When something's open, I got to be able to hit it, because there's times where I sit back there and I'm thinking too much. I got to be able to get it out, get it to No. 1 if No. 1 is there, No. 2 if No. 2 is there, get through my progressions. So it's not just on them. It's on me as well."

The good news for Stroud and Co. is that Collins reportedly could return from his hamstring issue to play in Houston's Week 10 home game versus the Detroit Lions (6-1) on Nov. 10. However, Diggs is out for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL.

Detroit plays at the rival Green Bay Packers (6-2) this Sunday afternoon. As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Lions as 2.5-point favorites for that matchup.