C.J. Stroud Shrugs Off Cold-Weather Concerns for Texans-Chiefs

The Houston Texans are bound to be heading into cooler temperatures for their Week 14 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football; getting right into the thick of the December action with around 20º temperatures at night, and perhaps even a bit of snow to accrue throughout the day.

For a team coming from the heat of Texas, it's not always often that the Texans are facing these types of temperatures on a regular basis, but for someone like C.J. Stroud, who's been acclimated to environments like this during his time at Ohio State, the challenge can be a bit easier to take on.

"I think I'm still kind of used to it," Stroud said of playing in cold weather. "I mean, it wasn't that long ago to where I was playing in the cold [at Ohio State], so I try my best to stay warm. I mean, for some guys, maybe, but I'm grateful that I went to Ohio State and played in some of the environments."

Texans' C.J. Stroud Downplays Cold Weather Before Facing Kansas City

Of course, the task of walking into the face of a hostile crowd like Kansas City in Arrowhead is never simple. That task becomes even more compounded when placed in frigid night temperatures on the opposite side of a hungry Chiefs team with their backs against the wall for this season, but Stroud certainly won't be backing down.

Sometimes, players around the league, and even in the Texans' locker room, have voiced their respective strategies of lathering up in Vaseline, or another eye-catching move that can help soften the blow that is the cool December air.

Jan 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) rolls out to throw against the Kansas City Chiefs during the third quarter of a 2025 AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

For Stroud, those are some moves he's never done himself, and it wasn't really allowed back at his alma mater––but after a quick warm-up and getting in the motions of the game, the cold winds up not playing as much of a factor.

"When I was at Ohio State, we weren't allowed to, like, really do that type of stuff," Stroud continued. "But when you live in the cold, when you're playing it, it's not as bad. On the bench, you're fine, because, you know, the heaters."

"The one thing it's hard is, like, a TV timeout. Just sitting out there, is when it gets kind of colder, and the warm-ups is always hard. But, once you get past that, and you're playing, it's kind of normal. As long as it's not, like, super windy."

Time will tell how Stroud and the Texans' fate will pan out in Kansas City with some brutal weather to face, but if they can conquer this challenge as they have for their past four wins, Houston gets hard to ignore in that coveted AFC playoff picture.

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