C.J. Stroud's comfort level at Texans' minicamp 'is like night and day' compared to rookie season

C.J. Stroud is a long way from the rookie who took over the Texans' huddle a year ago.

As the undisputed leader of a playoff team, Stroud has a presence around NRG Stadium that is consistent with a franchise quarterback. He is running the show and everyone else is following his lead.

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans made note of this Tuesday after practice. He mentioned how Stroud halted practice earlier in the day when the offense was not performing up to standard.

Stroud, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, was never bashful. But now he's operating with a level of comfort that hardly compares to his rookie season.

"Yeah, it's night and day, man. It’s – really like I feel like I'm running the show," Stroud said. "I've got a lot more responsibilities from [Bobby Slowik] Slow, and from DeMeco [Ryans], from Jarrod [James], Bill [Lazor] and really our whole offensive staff. I'm the captain of the ship and I’ve got to run it the right way. And I feel like I’ve stepped into the role of not only holding guys accountable, but also holding myself accountable to those moments. I don't let anything slide. That's the point of winning and losing.

"So, I think from last year to this year, I've gotten a lot better with controlling my emotions, controlling my ball placement, knowing what's ‘NFL open,’ knowing my footwork better. Really every little thing, I’ve taken a step. And then on the other side of the ball everything slowed down, seeing coverage. DeMeco does a good job of blitzing me and working on their different coverages, or different looks, or starting too high, go to one, go back to two, motion like it's man [coverage], go to cover two, all that stuff to keep me true and honest. And I think I've tried to do my best with the offseason study to be better, and I will feel like I've done that and had a good OTAs so far. Got to finish with vet minicamp, it's been a big transition of more comfortability from last year to this year."