Texans' C.J. Stroud tiptoes around bulletin-board material while praising Chargers

Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers have eyes on getting some revenge over the Houston Texans when they line up for the Week 17 meeting on Sunday.

Those Chargers, after all, have waxed poetic all week about not being able to forget about the 32-12 loss to the Texans in the AFC’s wild card last year.

To their credit, the Texans have been going out of their way to tiptoe around anything that might be construed as bulletin-board material during the holidays.

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is front and center in that effort.

Along the way, Stroud threw out major praise for Jesse Minter, even if he didn’t utter the defensive coordinator’s name in the process.

“They play together as one,” Stroud told reporters. “They’re kind of on a string in coverage, which is a good thing–They rush together. So, they kind of do everything together, which is really challenging. And there’s not one person just doing whatever. So, it’s really sound. And they have great coaching, and they do a really good job of mixing coverage and stuff like that.”

#Chargers DC Jesse Minter is trending toward becoming the most coveted HC candidate in this year’s cycle.

From this week’s 'Schultz Report' episode:https://t.co/LBfv9Ys2cR pic.twitter.com/ZUXkS9UABk
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 23, 2025

Stroud also very carefully didn't have much to say about the topic that the Chargers don't have many home fans at home games.

There were some rough patches for Minter’s Chargers defense at times over the first two months of the season.

But since the Week 12 bye, the Chargers have allowed just 14, 19, 13 and 17 points. That’s while playing a gauntlet of three straight offenses that included Philadelphia, Kansas City and Dallas.

The Chargers continue to get breakouts all over the unit. Tuli Tuipulotu is quietly up to 13 sacks on the season across from Khalil Mack. Odafe Oweh came over via trade and has seven sacks.

“I don’t know anybody who’s a bigger fan of Jesse Minter than I am.” pic.twitter.com/n4QJvGOC5j
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) December 14, 2025

In the secondary, the veteran Tony Jefferson continues to excel at safety. Rookie RJ Mickens was a breakout before injury. Free-agent addition Donte Jackson has been a near-Pro-Bowl-level presence.

It’s a testament to Minter that his defense continues to just keep plugging and playing anyone and everyone at a high level. And it certainly explains all the love he’s getting as a possible head-coaching candidate.

And this week, specifically, it’s why elite players like Stroud have nothing but praise before attempting to dissect Minter’s defense in a battle with major AFC implications at stake.

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