C.J. Stroud: Jaguars Treated Me Like a Rookie QB in Week 3

The Jaguars were the last team to underestimate Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud.

There will be no sneaking up on teams for the Houston Texans and C.J. Stroud in 2024. They proved enough last year to establish themselves as credible threats. 

They certainly won't be sneaking up on the Jacksonville Jaguars. In fact, it seems like they already did. 

Speaking on an episode of The Pivot Podcast, Stroud pointed to the Texans' upset blowout win over the Jaguars in Week 3 as the last time a defense and team treated him like a rookie quarterback. 

"We played the Colts Week 2 and I went crazy on them boys. We lost but like I think I threw for like 380, two TDs, my numbers were good you know, so I was making the right reads, I was moving defenders with my eyes. I just got back to doing what I was used to doing," Stroud said. 

"And then we played Week 3 against Jacksonville, yeah, I went trim on them boys. The thing that was crazy about it though is because I had so much respect for Jacksonville. And I think they kind of came in like, oh that's a rookie quarterback. Yeah and like that was the last time that happened."

Stroud was magnificent for the Texans in a 37-17 win, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns and picking apart a Jaguars defense that held Patrick Mahomes to 17 points just 17 days prior. 

And while Stroud was still wet behind the ears at this point since it was only his third-ever start, his performance against the Jaguars showed that he wasn't just any regular rookie quarterback.

"Like the rest of the season, I never got treated like a rookie quarterback. Because they would just blitz me, blitz me, blitz me. I just would pick it apart. Like if you blitz me, I'm gonna go there. Like I just played a game you know against the DC. You know, you want to take this away okay, I'm gonna be smart and take the check down."