Texans HC Backs C.J. Stroud, Talks Texans' Decision to Not Bench QB for Mills in Patriots Loss

Houston Texans head coach told reporters after Sunday's 28-16 loss against the New England Patriots that he never considered benching C.J. Stroud in favor of Davis Mills despite four first-half interceptions.

"C.J. is our guy," he said. "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, he did play better. We had some positive drives in the second half. I believed that he would do that and he did that. As I always tell our guys at halftime, it doesn't matter what happened in the first half. You have to flush it, remove it, and you just have to go out and finish the right way."

Ryans' message to Stroud was one of support after the game as well.

"Keep your head up, I love you," he told reporters when asked what he said to the struggling quarterback after the game. "I have your back, this whole team has your back."

Stroud indeed played better in the second half, though the bar to clear in that regard was basically underground after a disastrous opening half. What he didn't do, however, was play well enough in the second half to lead Houston to a win.

Stroud's struggles with accuracy continued, even if he managed to protect the ball. He didn't deal with New England's pressure well, even if he avoided the catastrophic decisions that defined his first half. He led the Texans to a pair of field-goal drives, though Houston needed touchdowns and didn't get them.

You wouldn't blame Houston fans if they wanted to bench Stroud. You also wouldn't blame them if they now have major question marks about whether he's actually the franchise quarterback he once seemed destined to become.

For Ryans, Sunday's decision whether to keep him in or bench him was complicated. Stroud was having a horrible afternoon, but he's a much better player than Mills on most days, so if the head coach truly believed Stroud could turn it around it was defensible to stick with him. There's also the matter of how the rest of the team might have responded to a benching, or what it would have meant for Stroud's relationship with both Ryans and the organization going forward.

We'll never know if Mills might have sparked a comeback. We do know that Stroud didn't have it in him, wasting the efforts of a brilliant Houston defense. What that means for his future with the Texans remains to be seen, though the organization suddenly has very little incentive to rush into extension talks.