Texas quarterback CJ Stroud wasn’t as good in year two as he was in his 2023 Rookie of the Year season. And Houston fans are noticing it.

Stroud and his teammates were booed by the home crowd at Christmas, and Stroud said after the game that he couldn’t say they were wrong.

“People are entitled to their opinion and they care about the game. Your feelings are important, I understand that,” Stroud said. “This isn’t my first time and it probably won’t be my last either. This isn’t something you internalize and point the finger at yourself, but rather something you can use to motivate yourself to stop wanting these moments. Hopefully I have a lot of football left in my career, God willing, and I know that this will be a story that I will tell one day and that will help me in the long run. It’s part of life. You cross many valleys and have many mountain peaks. It’s a cliché, but there are no sunny days if there aren’t also rainy days. So it’s a rainy day, but at the end of the day the sun will come up tomorrow and we’ll try this thing again next week and keep going.”

Stroud is consistently worse this year: lower completion percentage, fewer yards per pass, and a lower passer rating. Fewer touchdowns and fewer first downs. More interceptions and more sacks. Stroud admitted he didn’t play well in the loss to the Ravens.

“I was just always missing. I didn’t make any throws,” Stroud said.

Since the Texans are in the 4th seed in the AFC, they have some time to regroup for the playoffs. When Stroud needs to do a lot better.