HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� The Houston Texans began preparations for their 25th season Wednesday as the only NFL team to have never made a conference championship game and one of just four teams that haven鈥檛 reached the Super Bowl.
After losing in the divisional round in each of the past three years, the question is once again whether this milestone anniversary season will be the one in which they finally take the next step.
Or maybe next few steps and win that elusive championship.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that we鈥檙e striving for,鈥� defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said Wednesday after the first practice of training camp. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that鈥檚 never been done in this city, to bring something special back to this city. And I think that everybody鈥檚 aware of that.鈥�
Coach DeMeco Ryans knows that many outside the building believe the pressure is on the team this season to do more than it has in his first three years. But for him nothing has changed since he returned to Houston in 2023 to coach the team where he spent much of his 10-year playing career.
鈥淭he only thing I know is high expectations,鈥� Ryans said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we do what we do, to achieve the ultimate goal. It鈥檚 a process. It鈥檚 a build to get there, and we鈥檙e not afraid of the work that it takes 鈥� to get there.鈥�
Much of the criticism for Houston鈥檚 playoff exit last season was directed at quarterback C.J. Stroud after he threw a career-high four interceptions in a loss to the Patriots. dropped the Texans to 0-7 all-time in the divisional round.
General manager Nick Caserio raved about the work Stroud has put in since then and said he doesn鈥檛 care what people outside of the building say about him.
鈥淚 love having C.J. here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad he鈥檚 our quarterback. We鈥檙e going to support him like we鈥檙e going to support our other players and do whatever we can to help them, make them the best version of themselves.鈥�
The Texans exercised the fifth-year option on Stroud鈥檚 rookie contract in April that locked him in through the 2027 season, but have yet to sign the 24-year-old to an extension.
But Caserio said Wednesday that it is something they鈥檙e working on.
鈥淲e鈥檝e definitely had productive conversations over the course of the spring,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a possibility that something could come to fruition. We鈥檒l work through it and see what happens.鈥�
Stroud said Wednesday that he isn鈥檛 worried about signing an extension right now and that he’s letting his agent and team deal with that.
鈥淚鈥檓 focused on ball,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to hold my end of the bargain down on just the football side and do what I can and what I should be doing as the quarterback of this team. I鈥檓 letting them handle it and it seems like everything is going great.鈥�
Speculation about when Stroud could get an extension increased after in April that made him the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
Stroud was taken second overall in the 2023 draft and Anderson was selected with the third pick. Their performance as rookies put the Texans back in the playoffs following three dreadful seasons and earned Stroud AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and Anderson the award on defense.
But after being eliminated in the same round of the playoffs in each of their first three seasons, they鈥檙e looking to ramp things up to help the Texans improve this year.
Both players are working on improving their leadership skills as they enter Year 4 and Anderson said he鈥檚 made clear to his teammates what he鈥檚 looking for from them.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e here for a reason,鈥� he said he told them. 鈥淚 think the expectation is that nobody outside of this building is going to have a higher expectation than what we have in this building.鈥�
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