While Houston Texans legendary wide receiver Andre Johnson didn't tell a lie about current Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, his sentiment seems a tad bit overstated and out of place given the current timeline of events after week one.
Appearing on an episode of Kendrick Perkins and Lil' Keke's LGND Talk podcast, Johnson gave a now viral take about his displeasure with some of the leadership qualities of Stroud. Namely, Johnson had this to say regarding the former Ohio State Buckeye's "body language",
"With him, and this is just me personally, what I dislike about C.J. is his body language. His body language is bad. Anytime something happens it's like...(motions). I think, as a former player, your quarterback having that type of body language is bad because other guys look at you as the quarterback. So, when they see you feeling a certain way, it kind of trickles through the team."
The sentiment has spread like wildfire throughout the Texans fan base, as many look at the Hall of Famer's words as confirmation for their skepticism about the long term viability of Stroud as the franchise quarterback in Houston. However, I look at the matter as being yet another echoing of a long-since played out narrative that seemingly is on its way to aging like milk in the near future.
The negative commentary surrounding C.J. Stroud's leadership with the Houston Texans is on its way to being played out
For starters, Stroud himself already took a level of ownership of the "body language narrative himself back in August of last year by light-heartedly expressing,
"I don't know, it's hard. I'm very competitive, I don't like losing, I don't like making mistakes. But, I would say I just in the moment try to just breath, relax, try to just calm my mind. I always try to remind myself that I'm in the NFL. God didn't have to bless me with this, but he chose to, and I got to steward it the right way. I could complain everyday if I wanted to, but there's no positive in that. So, I try to just try that and be grateful for the little things."
The reality is, Stroud is fully aware of the observations that have been made about his struggles with not wearing too many of his emotions on his sleeve. As a fiery competitor, Stroud has been liable to having moments where the pressure of any given situation has caused for his temperament to shift from extremely high to extremely low. To be fair to Johnson, it definitely is a major point of emphasis for Stroud to ensure that he knows and acts on the fact that his outward projections of internal conflict could be a detriment to the morale of the huddle.
However, to advocate for Stroud, the timing of the release of the clip has a slight hint of "read the room" to it, in that Stroud and the team are coming off of a 36-31 thriller of a loss against the Buffalo Bills where--besides two pressure-generated fumbles--Stroud actually played very well across 60 minutes in his first game since his now infamous New England Patriots disaster of the 2025 season.
Stroud completed 26/38 passes (68.42%) for 274 yards, two touchdowns, a 106.7 passer rating and even 15 rushing yards. Statistically, Stroud played like one of the 15-best quarterbacks in the NFL in week one, and his playmaking through the air was vital in Houston even having a speck of a chance on their final drive as the offense was attempting to complete a late-game comeback as a result of the defense's startling collapse throughout the course of the game.
Even though Stroud and the offense came up just short of that goal, he could walk away with confidence knowing that he and his teammates made progress on his side of the football. The past is the past, and there's nothing Stroud can do to change that. Fortunately, more games like the one on Sunday will certainly help to rebuild the once sterling reputation that came with his elite performance from his historic rookie season.
Maybe at that point, "body langauge" conversations will be replaced with chants for "team MVP"?
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