Here is everything Houston Texans quarterbackC.J. Stroudsaid following Houston’s 20-6 lossto the Cincinnati Bengals, including how much the offense missed wide receiver Nico Collins in this game, how Cincinnati’s pass rush affected him and wide receiver Kayshon Boutte’s growth since joining the Texans.
Question: On what areas he felt the offense missed WR Nico Collins
C.J. Stroud: “I'm not sure. I think the obvious, a couple of third downs and then just some explosive passing game maybe. A person like that, not having him, will affect the offense. It's not easy not to have him.”
Q: On how the Cincinnati Bengals pass rush affected him
Stroud: “They did a good job of changing it up. I thought a couple of times we picked it up, but some of those third
downs we have to keep trying to get the ball out, but they had some good pressure packages. They did a good job.”
Q: On when the run game became unsuccessful and the offense leaned on passing the ball
Stroud: “I don't know exactly when, but I know that there was a certain point in the game where we were throwing the ball. Something I think we have to get better at is being able to run the football. It's something that we'll visit this week.”
Q: On the offense’s success in the redzone and his performance without WR Nico Collins
Stroud: “If you don't score in the red zone, you probably don't win the game. We get down there, but we got stuffed on a couple of short yardages. Those are really tough. We have to be able to convert those. I thought I tried my best to handle what I had to do without Nico I thought we threw the ball pretty decently, but it's those small downs, those downs where it's just, like ‘Dang, if we would have hit that or if we would have did this.’ I think it's tough not having a guy like Nico, for sure.”
Q: On how starting 0-2 multiple times in his career will help the team the remainder of the season
Stroud: “Sadly, we've been here before, but I think we just have to hold each other accountable. We have to get better. There are a lot of things that we need to be doing better if we're going to win. I think we'll have some conversations this week about that and, you know, get some things fixed.”
Q: On WR Kayshon Boutte’s growth since joining the team
Stroud: “He's grown a lot, man. He's doing a lot of great things. I think he's getting better. We haven't gotten a bunch of reps together, so we're starting to build that every day, but I thought he made some good plays today. I missed him on one that I regret, but I thought he played a really good game today.”
Q: On how the Cincinnati Bengals eliminated the outside receiving game
Stroud: “They were just playing really man. Our guys were fighting to get off of some calls I think were questionable, but I think we just got to do a better job on the outside of just winning. I think when we started to get in the flow of the game, started motioning, I think ‘Hutch’ [WR Xavier Hutchinson] played great. I thought ‘J-Noel’ [WR Jaylin Noel] did great. I thought ‘J-Wayne’ [WR Jared Wayne] did good as well and of course, [WR Kayshon] Boutte. It's tough sometimes when you don't get the call but you feel like you should. Can't rely on that. We have to be better.”
Q: On whether he got injured in the game
Stroud: “I always have some bumps and bruises after games, but I'll be okay.”
Q: On the difficulty of playing with players that he doesn’t have many reps with
Stroud: “It can be tough. You build chemistry throughout the offseason. I try my best to invite everybody to come throw with me, whether that's in California or if that's here, wherever. We get those things done, but when the bullets are flying, it's a little different. I think we have to continue to build chemistry, because with ‘Higgs’ [WR Jayden Higgins] is not playing this season and then we got Nico [Collins] out for we don't know how long. It's not just them; it's on me too. I have to put the ball in better places and I think it definitely is tough, but we can get better at it.”
Q: On whether he can pinpoint the difference in redzone success from Week 1 to Week 2
Stroud: “I can’t necessarily give you an exact answer. I would just say short yardage. You get some of those short downs and you expect to move the chains on those, but you don't. That can make the game a little tough. I think that maybe that and of course I have to be better also on third down. I'm trying my best to get us close enough to maybe give Coach [DeMeco Ryans] an opportunity to go for it on fourth. I believe that if we would have done better on all aspects, we would have probably scored a little more in the red zone.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans QB C.J. Stroud said after Houston’s Week 2 loss
