Will Anderson Jr. Reveals His Message to C.J. Stroud After Texans' Playoff Loss

The Texans fell to the Patriots on Sunday after C.J. Stroud threw four interceptions.

Will Anderson Jr. had a sweet message for his quarterback after the Texans’ playoff loss. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

A four-interception game from quarterback C.J. Stroud might have cost the Texans a trip to the AFC championship game, but there is no resentment from the defense that gave them a chance to win the game.

The Texans’ No. 1 ranked defense did what they have for much of the season in their divisional round loss to the Patriots on Sunday. They held the Patriots to under 250 yards of total offense, sacked Drake Maye five times and forced four fumbles, recovering two of them.

Third-year defensive end Will Anderson Jr. was outstanding once again, recording three of the sacks on Maye and two forced fumbles—becoming just the fourth player in postseason history to record that kind of stat-line.

Despite Stroud’s turnovers playing a significant part in the Texans’ loss, Anderson stood by his quarterback after the game.

“I told him, ‘I still think you’re the best quarterback in the league. Hands down there’s nobody better than you,’” Anderson said to reporters. “We’re behind him, we’re rallying behind him. Obviously we didn’t have the outcome that we wanted, but that’s what we have the offseason for, to get better and to grow.”

#Texans DE Will Anderson said he told CJ Stroud “I still think you’re the best quarterback in the league hands down.” pic.twitter.com/7qIrgoTNSA

— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) January 19, 2026

Anderson and Stroud came into the NFL at the same time, as the Texans selected them with the No. 2 and No. 3 picks in the 2023 draft. They immediately became the team’s core building blocks as they won the Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards while leading Houston back to the playoffs. They’ve made the postseason in three straight years together, but have come up short in the divisional round each time. Though this year’s result proved no different, Anderson made sure to show his confidence in his quarterback after perhaps the worst game of his career.

Head coach DeMeco Ryans, who also joined the team in 2023, restated his belief in Stroud as well after the game, saying, “C.J.’s our guy. I believed that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believed that he could play better, and he did that in the second half. We had some positive drives there in the second half. I believed that he would do that and he did that.”

Stroud did take accountability for the loss, acknowledging he felt he let the team down. He expressed appreciation for the support from Ryans and his teammates, and plans to keep his “chin high” as they head into the offseason and next year.

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