Everything Texans Pro Bowl QB C.J. Stroud said before the trip to The Greenbrier

USA Today

2 days ago

Here's everything Houston Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud said following the final day of training camp before the team's trip to The Greenbrier, including his thoughts on the offensive line, the future of the offense and what he wants out of the team's road trip.
Question: On if the trip to The Greenbrier will be good for team chemistry
C.J. Stroud: 'Yeah, for sure. Once you get a group of guys together and you find things in common, you find things that are different about each other and you build that bond and that team chemistry. So, I think it's going to be good for us.'
Q: How is the offense coming along from his viewpoint
Stroud: 'It takes time. It's not something that happens overnight. I feel like we're getting better every day. We're having good conversations on how routes are going to be ran and scheme is seen by both player and coach. So, it's been really good to hash out some things and going up against a good defense. So, it's not always easy going against them and they're really good. So, it's bumps and bruises, but I feel like we're making progress.'
Q: On what he's seen from WR Christian Kirk as a piece of this offense
Stroud: 'Christian's always been great. I've been a fan of his since college. He's been somebody who's put it on tape a bunch and been one of the best receivers in the league for a minute now. So, I think our chemistry is being seen every day. We've not just been close on the field, but off as well. Just having conversations on how we look at schemes and routes and whatnot. I think he's going to be great. He's been that way so far in camp.'
Q: On how TE Cade Stover's farm boy attitude manifests itself on and off the field
Stroud: 'He's a tough guy. He's just Ohio tough that when I moved to Ohio to go to school, they always talked about being tough and being developed. That's just how guys from Ohio State come out. We're all mentally, physically tough and we're trying to show that we're that way. I think it comes off naturally for him. Just his background with farming and whatnot. So, he's done incredible things, but he's taken another step with route running, pass catching and I think that's somewhere where he wanted to take his game up a notch and he has.'
Q:On how challenging it's been to learn a new offense while continuing to be a leader for new players on the team
Stroud: 'Just challenges every year. I don't really look at it as a challenge, more like opportunity to learn something new about the game of football and also take the opportunity to help other guys. I don't really look at it as a challenge, I don't really look at it as challenging. It's something that you…When you're playing football, you get used to learning new schemes and learning new people. So, it's been fun. I don't know, as a quarterback, I feel like I'm just starting to feel comfortable, trying to get better every day. I think I'm really hard on myself and I think it's a good thing to get better each day. I think next step for me is taking the guys around me to think the same way and to get them to buy into what, as a team, we're trying to do. I think that's where I can grow as a quarterback.'
Q: On what excites him about this new offense
Stroud: 'I would say the people. Scheme is scheme. It's great, it's timing that you want to call great plays against great looks. But even in those looks, you got to still make plays with the players. Also, when the looks aren't as great, we've got to have our coaches back to make those plays to run smoothly or just get a positive play. So, that's what excites me. This is a really, really talented group. I'm excited to go out there on Sunday with these guys and compete.'
Q: What he likes about throwing to receivers in the slot and if he thinks it's one of his strengths
Stroud: 'I think it's football. It's whoever's open, I try to get the ball too. I think I'm good on throwing to guys at outside and inside. I don't really have a preference, so to speak. But we've had great guys in the slot with 'Stef' [Stefon Diggs] and Tank [Dell], 'Metch' [John Metchie III]. Now we've got C. Kirk [Christian Kirk], 'J-Wat' [Justin Watson]. I think our guys are very versatile too. So, I've been trying to get better in both.'
Q: On if the offensive line is having good moments at Training Camp
'Yeah, it takes time. Especially the first couple of days, no pads. It's not always easy. I think that's the best defensive line in football right now, with just how they get off the ball, to edge guys Will [Anderson Jr.] and Danielle [Hunter] are crazy athletes. They rush together, they rush as a unit. I think it's just making us nothing but better. I think you don't want to continue to just say the defense is good. You want to start seeing progress and seeing plays being made. I think we've seen that these last couple of days. So, it's helpful for me to start going through reads and be able to go through my full progression when the offensive line is picking everything up. They've done a great job of continuing to work and keeping their head up, staying confident because it's not easy going against those guys every day, I get that. But we have trust that those guys, our guys are very talented too on the offensive side of the ball.'
Q: On how the physical improvements he made in the offseason are manifesting themselves
Stroud: "I feel good, I feel fast, I feel strong, I feel healthy. I don't know if I look chubby or look fat, but I feel good. I don't know. I feel good though. I'm running fast.'
Q: On if he feels his self-criticism is a blessing or something to be worked on
Stroud: 'It could be both. It could be something that your body, my body language isn't always great. I think I'm just… I love winning. It's hard when you're not doing what you want to do or things around you aren't great. It's easy to be negative. So, my thing is I have to try to be more positive in my body language and things like that. But, I've learned this over my years too. This is a little nugget that I got from a pastor was, 'Mistakes and failures or even successes can either be a classroom or a coffin.' So, I can either let it train me and I can learn from it or I can let it kill me and I can get in a coffin with it and let that mistake take a course in a negative route. For me, I try to make it a classroom as much as possible to where I can learn from it, analyze it, study it and then move on. I think that's something that I'm trying to get better at.'
Q: On how he's seen S C.J. Gardner-Johnson affecting the team
Stroud: 'He's a different cat. He's a great guy. He wants to be a locker room guy. He is a locker room guy. Very friendly, very cool. Me and him mesh well. His first day, I called him. Well, I texted him and welcomed him on the team and was just excited to have him. I think it's dope because he's coming off some, a lot of playoff experience and Super Bowl experience. So, he doesn't do nothing but help us. He's doing a great job of just helping us all around.'
Q: On how he balances playing on script and off script during practice
Stroud: 'For me, I just try to look at the game as: play what I see and let my instincts… I think I'm a very instinctual player and I'm very thoughtful pre-snap. But, once the ball is snapped, I try to play with instincts and feel rotation, feel coverage and whatever that looks like and also feel the pocket. So, it's a lot to do, but I've done it for a little minute now and I'm getting better when it comes to the NFL process of ripping one if one's there, taking two, you can shortcut to five, go to five. There are things that you do when you get more mature in the game. I'm only 23 and I'm still learning a lot. I'm just trying to get better in those things. Just learning from the times where I should have checked it down instead of running or should have run instead of checked it down or vice versa.'
Q: On why it's important for him and his mother to give back to the community together
Stroud: 'That's how we started. When I was a kid, that's what we did. We gave back every weekend I can remember, to the homeless. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, back to school things. We've always wanted to keep that a thing. I think it's just not only did that experience inspire the kids, but it gave me joy to see. It makes me emotional, but to see them going through so much to still have joy and still be hopeful for life, and for us, we're playing this game. It's an important game. It's a blessing, but it's not the biggest thing. I think those things are a lot bigger than throwing a good pass or whatever. Those things are still important. But, when you're looking at those lives it doesn't even compare. So, I think that not only did it help them, but it helped me a ton. We just want to… Houston's opened up arms to us as a home and we want to be able to give back. We do the same thing in California too. So, it was a blessing.'