Jan. 22, 2026, 8:50 p.m. CT

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky has made plenty of headlines in recent weeks when talking about the rise and fall of the Houston Texans.

Back in Week 13, Orlovsky said, amid the start of a nine-game win streak to close out the regular season, that the Texans‘ offense was among the most improved units.

Last week, the longtime NFL analyst said he couldn’t envision Stroud having a worse game after a three-turnover performance in the wild-card round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Then, after a four-interception game against the divisional round loss to the New England Patriots, Orlovsky scorned Stroud’s play, stating that 31 other quarterbacks would have won in a 28-16 loss at Gillette Stadium over the third-year Pro Bowler, going so far as to name every quarterback he would have picked to win.

Now, Orlovsky is walking back his take back after having time to think about it. On Thursday’s episode of ESPN’s “Get Up!”, the former quarterback-turned-broadcaster offered an apology.

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” I want to publicly apologize to C.J. Stroud. I crossed the line. I don’t ever want to do that in this role,” Orlovsky said. “When I started eight years ago, I made the commitment: Never go on TV and say they won because the quarterback played good or they lost because the quarterback played bad. I’ve been called out on it. Accountability, full stop. Shouldn’t have done it.

“I don’t want to take away from New England’s defense as well. So, full stop. That wasn’t cool of me. That was wrong of me. Different way for me to communicate that.”

Stroud was awful in the postseason and the numbers would back that up. He finished with two touchdown passes against seven turnovers, including five interceptions. He threw four picks, including one returned for a touchdown by former Houston Cougars cornerback Marcus Jones, and completed less than 47 percent of his passes for 212 yards.

The Texans featured the league’s best defense, which is why Orlovsky unleashed his frustrations on air following the loss. The only problem? Fans called him out for failing to mention that other quarterbacks, including former MVP Josh Allen, also cost his team a trip to the AFC Championship Game with a four-turnover game against the Buffalo Bills.

The Texans will select 28th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.