During the third quarter of the game, C.J. Stroud, the starting quarterback for the Texans, was forced to leave the field briefly after taking a hard hit from safety Jalen Thompson. Despite waving off trainers and attempting to return to play, he was taken to the sideline for evaluation. In his absence, backup quarterback Davis Mills took over for a short period before Stroud returned to action.

Upon his return, Stroud made a successful 18-yard pass on third-and-17, indicating that he was feeling okay. At this point in the game, Stroud had completed 22 of 28 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Meanwhile, Matt Ammendola, who was filling in for Ka’imi Fairbairn who was injured, missed a 48-yard field goal attempt on the team’s opening drive of the second half. Despite this setback, the Texans still maintained a commanding 21-10 lead over their opponents.