The Texans’ season ended in Baltimore on Saturday, but the mood in the locker room on Monday was not a somber one.
Expectations were low for a Houston team with a first-year head coach and a rookie quarterback heading into the season, but DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud both impressed in their debuts and there was plenty of other young talent to be excited about on the roster. That list includes defensive end Will Anderson, who set a franchise rookie record with seven sacks and said on Monday that bigger things are coming for the AFC South team.
“I don’t think people understand how much better we’re going to be next year,” Anderson said, via the team’s website. “It’s so easy to come into this place and really just connect with the guys in here and be able to come into the culture that’s been built here and how to operate throughout that culture. It’s all just mindset and mentality.”
There are plenty of reasons to believe Anderson is right about the arrow pointing up for the Texans, but there are also examples of teams taking a step back after outperforming expectations. Complacency is a good way to get the latter outcome, so the Texans will have to guard against that while getting ready for their next campaign.
