Post Game Press Conference – Texans QB C.J. Stroud

TEXANS QUARTERBACK C.J. STROUD

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

October 13, 2024

 

Q: You guys were able to score a lot of points and put some things together. How did that feel as an offense?

CS: Yeah, first just want to thank God, you know, first win against the Patriots in our organization’s history so I thought that was cool, but I felt like we were flowing in all aspects, you know, pass and run. Kind of just slowed down, you know, at the end of the first half. Can’t do that, but other than that, I feel like we were hitting on all cylinders.

 

Q: What do you feel like helped you all get out of that little bit of a lull and allowed you to accelerate in the third?

CS: Just holding each other accountable, and, you know, of course, our defense getting turnovers and having short fields. That definitely helped. We played complementary football today, our special teams set us up great, you know, and I think when you’re playing like that, it’s hard to be beat.

 

Q: What was it like in that second half going to the sideline before you could even get your helmet off and sitting on the bench good enough, the defense got you the ball back?

CS: I think it’s dope just to see what we planned on worked, you know what I’m saying? Seeing how hard the defense worked and I don’t think we got a turnover in a couple weeks so they were really hungry to get a couple and got four so that was pretty dope.

 

Q: C.J. from your vantage point after you hand Joe Mixon the football, what do you see from him as he rumbles into the line?

CS: He’s got great vision, you know, hits it as hard as he can, you know, so just a great feel for the game, a great feel to set his blocks up. When our O-line is blocking the way they did today and he’s setting up blocks, it’s a recipe for success and then DP [Dameon Pierce] comes in and does well as well.

 

Q: DeMeco Ryans was talking about the energy Joe Mixon brings. As the quarterback of the offense, how do you feel that energy? What is that?

CS: I would say his attitude, just the way he comes to work every day, how hard he runs at work. How hard he does everything from studying his plays to really, you know, on the practice field, running as hard as he can. You can see he runs like 80 yards every time he touches the ball, so it shows up on tape.

 

Q: You and Will Anderson Jr. are really close. How good was it to see him get those three sacks today?

CS: Oh, man, it was super cool. I was super happy for him. He’s a dog so I’m definitely just proud of him. I know he’s been hunting, you know. He always talks about chopping wood, carrying water, so it’s good for that to pay off finally.

 

Q: Did you have a second with Drake Maye at the end of the game? Did you get a chance to talk to him?

CS: Yeah, I gave him a little word, you know, tried to give him a little word of encouragement. I thought he played really solid, you know. Definitely feel like he’ll get better and better as he keeps going.

 

Q: Given what you’ve learned over – what would you like to have known when you were at his stage that you know now that’s valuable?

CS: Honestly just take completions, stay in the positive and make guys around you better. I would say those are the three things I would want to know and it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not easy. He has hopefully a team helping him and, you know, like I did last year. I had so many guys helping me. So definitely hope that helped him what I said but those three things definitely helped me on top of just being disciplined.

 

Q: You and Tank Dell are obviously – blood couldn’t make you guys closer. What did it mean to see him be able to get back into the end zone?

CS: Man, words can’t explain how proud I am. How hard it is to come back from injury and it wasn’t really getting the production he wanted early and to see him, he was so motivated this week to get back and get rolling. I thought he did a good job, not only on his play, that stuck out for itself, but also just his attitude and his mentality. Didn’t let his emotions go up and down. He just stayed at an even keel, stayed at it and it paid off for him today.

 

Q: Without Nico Collins did you feel like everyone adjusted well as far as all the involvement, all the play-making that happened?

CS: Yeah, for sure. I definitely think that. I think we knew that we needed everybody to step up and once he did that, it was – once everybody took on that challenge, you know, I think we started rolling and we didn’t feel bad for ourselves that Nico [Collins] wasn’t out there, we just try to, you know, pick up the slack and really just be there for one another and I feel like we did that.

 

Q: I think for the most part when Tom Brady played, you were in high school, a little college when he finished his career. Did you follow Brady? Is there anything about Brady’s game that struck you?

CS: Yeah, most definitely. I know Tom [Brady] now and got a lot of respect for him. He gives me a ton of advice whenever I see him, so just a really huge fan of his. I think the biggest thing that sticks out for me from him is just being a good teammate and really just helping out your teammates, loving on one another, being there for each other. Every time I talk to him, that’s all he talks about.

 

Q: There’s probably a couple offensive plays you would like to have back but you all still put 41 points on the board today. How good did that feel just to get the offense moving?

CS: Yeah, it felt great. I think, of course, like you said, could have some things back and I think we definitely left some points out on the field still but to put that production on there, run and pass was great.

 

Q: To that point, nice to have more than a one-possession game so you don’t have to come down in the last second today?

CS: Yeah, I don’t know. That was a dub, hard or easy, and today wasn’t easy. Just pulled it out faster. I definitely think that needed to show that we can win early but, you know, that was great.

 

Q: In regard to Drake Maye and there’s a certain weight that comes with being the type of quarterback that you are and he wants to be. What advice would you give to him in that regard, the ups and the downs and what have you learned personally?

CS: Just be yourself. Everything that got you here will take care of where you want to go and really just trust yourself. Trust that you’ll eventually figure it out. You’ll have bad days. You’ll have good days. There’s days where you’ll look at yourself like, “man, I’m the worst quarterback in the world,” but it’s always about getting up the next day and keep going. So I would just tell him that and I told him how much I believed in him and I hope to see him do well in this league.

 

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