Is C. J. Stroud playing today vs Titans? Texans QB's availability status for Week 17 explored

Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud has been out for two weeks after suffering a nasty concussion. These injuries can linger and cause extended absences, and that's what the Houston Texans are seeing at the moment. Their star QB has been sidelined since leaving during Week 14 and their playoff hopes rest on his return sooner rather than later, so is the star rookie going to make his return today?

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Is C.J. Stroud playing today?

C.J. Stroud will play today. The rookie quarterback's absence will end at two games after he officially cleared the concussion protocol this week. He is in line to start today.

C.J. Stroud is back in the lineup

Via ESPN, Stroud is looking forward to the matchup:

"We've got to appreciate the work that we've put in, but at the same time just get one at a time and keep building for hopefully making the playoffs. That's definitely the goal and go from there. We have to start with Tennessee, who is a really hard challenge. You can see last time we played them, they played us really tough."

The Tennessee Titans are currently eliminated from the postseason, but the Texans stand a chance to make it. They're currently the eighth seed, which means they're the first team out.

A win today would bolster their hopes of getting to the playoffs up to 52%, whereas a loss drops it to 14%. They may also need help, as they need the Indianapolis Colts to lose as well.

All that means that this is a very huge game, one Stroud is necessary for. Fortunately, he's good to go and should be back in the lineup and playing today unless something unforeseen happens.

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C.J. Stroud Fantasy Outlook

Since he's going to start again, it may be a return to fantasy lineups for C.J. Stroud as well. The Houston Texans QB might be your signal-caller in the fantasy championship, which means his start is a good thing.

He's projected to get things rolling again after his incredible season. The ESPN projections expect him to score 19.0 points this week, which would be a very nice total.

The Titans are dead middle against quarterback, allowing the 16th most to the position this year. That suggests that it won't be a difficult return for Stroud. He is, however, missing Tank Dell and Noah Brown and Nico Collins have been banged up, so his receivers might be limited.