Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was forced to leave Sunday’s 18-15 loss to the Denver Broncos after suffering a concussion early in the second quarter.

The injury occurred when Stroud scrambled for six yards on a third-and-8 play and slid just short of the first-down marker. As he began his slide, Broncos defensive back Kris Abrams-Draine converged on him and delivered a hard shoulder hit to Stroud’s upper body. The back of Stroud’s head struck the turf as a result of the impact, and he remained down for several moments before being tended to by Houston’s medical staff. Team trainers examined Stroud on the field as teammates gathered around, before he was escorted to the blue medical tent before being taken to the locker room for further evaluation. The Texans initially listed him as questionable to return, but ruled Stroud out when the second half began after confirming he had sustained a concussion.

Officials originally threw a flag for unnecessary roughness on the play but later picked it up, determining that Abrams-Draine’s hit had not involved contact with Stroud’s head or neck. Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans, however, disagreed with that decision.  Ryans said after the game: “he hit the quarterback when he’s sliding and giving himself up. If I’m incorrect on the rule, I’ve seen that happen multiple times with our guys, and we get the penalty. But for some reason, it just didn’t happen there. At the end of the day, we lost our starting quarterback because of the play. Anytime you lose your starting quarterback, it’s tough.”

Before exiting, Stroud had completed 6 of 10 passes for 79 yards and helped Houston build a 3-0 lead. Backup Davis Mills entered the game with 13:30 remaining in the first half and finished 17-of-30 for 137 yards. Ryans said: “I thought Davis battled, tried to do a good job there, he battled. But it just didn’t do well offensively once we lost C.J.”

The Texans (3-5) will host the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday.

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