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After a perhaps career-worst performance — given the magnitude of the matchup and his play in relation to that stage — Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud only made himself look worse during his end-of-season press conference.
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, January 21, Houston Texans signal caller CJ Stroud — after completing less than 50% of his passes and throwing four first half interceptions in the Texan’s divisional round loss to the Patriots — raised eyebrows with his rationale of his poor play this season.
CJ Stroud tries to reason that he had a bad season because he had difficulty adjusting to no longer being ‘Superman’
“This year was a step for me where I didn’t have to be Superman all the time, and I’m still growing in that. I’ve seen growth in my footwork, in the pocket, staying in the pocket—not just running around,” Stroud told reporters at his season-ending press conference.
If taken at face value, Stroud is saying that he his struggles this season were due to the fact that we was used to previously being ‘Superman’ for the team and had difficulty adjusting to *not* being Superman.
CJ Stroud details how he’s had to transition from being on offense-driven teams to more complementary ones.
“This year was a step for me where I didn’t have to be Superman all the time, and I’m still growing in that. I’ve seen growth in my footwork, in the pocket, staying in the… pic.twitter.com/k7Jzk6l0yd
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) January 19, 2026
This is simply incredible stuff we’re seeing here. https://t.co/FehHODaa1A
— Adam Steel (@RenegadeAdam) January 20, 2026
The NFL world was already clowning on Stroud after his turnover-filled performance against the Patriots, and his comments have only resulted in a doubling-down of that criticism.
“IQ of a rock. Davis Mills went 3-0 with that defense dummy, all you had to do was not play scared… his falloff needs to be studied,” one NFL tweeted.
“CJ Stroud vs Brandon Beane in an accountability contest, who puts the blame on themselves first?” a second joked, referencing the turmoil in Buffalo.
“All jokes aside bro just needs to stop talking. Every time he speaks it gets worse,” a third added.
CJ Stroud the last three seasons: https://t.co/R8OEeTs10h pic.twitter.com/eqrLTe4Qrd
— AstroDak (@IntheClutch75) January 20, 2026
Will Anderson Jr when he’s sees CJ at the facility again https://t.co/Dhx6sUfrBd pic.twitter.com/ZirXdrlsYw
— Tanatswa Hokonya (@a2aptan) January 20, 2026
This season, Stroud started in 14 games and completed 64.5% of his passes for 3,041 yards, 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.