A milestone 25th season begins for the Texans, still chasing a first conference title

HOUSTON — 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’t 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.

“That’s something that we’re striving for,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said Wednesday after the first practice of training camp. “That’s something that’s never been done in this city, to bring something special back to this city. And I think that everybody’s aware of that.”

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.

“The only thing I know is high expectations,” Ryans said. “That’s why we do what we do, to achieve the ultimate goal. It’s a process. It’s a build to get there, and we’re not afraid of the work that it takes … to get there.”

Much of the criticism for Houston’s 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. The 28-16 defeat 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’t care what people outside of the building say about him.

“I love having C.J. here,” he said. “I’m glad he’s our quarterback. We’re going to support him like we’re going to support our other players and do whatever we can to help them, make them the best version of themselves.”

The Texans exercised the fifth-year option on Stroud’s 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’re working on.

“We’ve definitely had productive conversations over the course of the spring,” he said. “There’s a possibility that something could come to fruition. We’ll work through it and see what happens.”

Stroud said Wednesday that he isn’t worried about signing an extension right now and that he's letting his agent and team deal with that.

“I’m focused on ball,” he said. “I’m 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’m letting them handle it and it seems like everything is going great.”

Speculation about when Stroud could get an extension increased after Anderson signed a three-year, $150 million extension 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’re 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’s made clear to his teammates what he’s looking for from them.

“You’re here for a reason,” he said he told them. “I think the expectation is that nobody outside of this building is going to have a higher expectation than what we have in this building.”