{"id":729015,"date":"2026-02-04T15:15:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729015\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T15:15:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:15:01","slug":"cj-stroud-shows-off-drastic-new-look-after-nightmare-end-to-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729015\/","title":{"rendered":"CJ Stroud shows off drastic new look after nightmare end to season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is making changes after <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/18\/sports\/c-j-strouds-four-interception-debacle-hurts-texans-vs-patriots\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a four-interception performance in Houston\u2019s Divisional Round<\/a> loss to the New England Patriots last month.<\/p>\n<p>Stroud cut off his shoulder-length long hair and opted for a shorter hairstyle, as seen in an Instagram video by Ashley Means, a Houston-based salon owner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes growth means letting go,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUUH5CKALA6\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> Means wrote<\/a>. \u201cEndings make room for elevation. New chapter unlocked.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stroud\u2019s personal barber, Kase Kuttz, shared the video and a photo of the quarterback\u2019s lineup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are far better things ahead than any we leave behind,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUUF3Ljkdmc\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Kuttz wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Stroud is four weeks removed from his nightmare season-ending performance against the Super Bowl-bound Patriots.<\/p>\n<p>He finished with 212 passing yards, one touchdown and four first-half interceptions in the 28-16 loss at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Mass.<\/p>\n<p>New England will face the Seattle Seahawks in <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/01\/betting\/oddsmaker-reveals-best-case-scenario-for-sportsbook-ahead-of-super-bowl-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Super Bowl 2026<\/a>, taking place in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38383122\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/houston-texans-quarterback-c-j-119183976.jpg\" alt=\"CJ Stroud walks off the field after the Texans' playoff loss to the Patriots on Jan. 18, 2026.\" class=\"wp-image-38383122\"  \/>CJ Stroud walks off the field after the Texans\u2019 playoff loss to the Patriots on Jan. 18, 2026. David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I let people down,\u201d Stroud said after the loss. \u201cI\u2019m not happy with that. It hurts. I\u2019m not used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ESPN analyst Troy Aikman, who called the game, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/19\/sports\/troy-aikman-paints-harsh-reality-for-c-j-stroud-after-interception-filled-playoff-fiasco\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said it\u2019s time for the Texans to address \u201csome tough decisions\u201d<\/a> regarding their stagnant quarterback in the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Stroud threw for 3,041 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 14 regular-season games in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.76953125;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38383003\" width=\"454\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/stroud-3.jpg\" alt=\"Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud showed off his new hairstyle in February 2026. \" class=\"wp-image-38383003\"  \/>Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud showed off his new hairstyle in February 2026.  Instagram\/HoustonWigQueen<\/p>\n<p>He has regressed since he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and made the Pro Bowl in 2023, when he seemed like a sure-fire future star.<\/p>\n<p>In his rookie season, Stroud threw for 4,108 yards with 23 touchdowns across 15 games.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is making changes after a four-interception performance in Houston\u2019s Divisional Round loss to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[1028,7,221,253,2368,6,9,10,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-729015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-c-j-stroud","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-texans","12":"tag-houstontexans","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-sports-entertainment","16":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116013022194851953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}