Texans’ C.J. Stroud emphasizes he didn’t ‘little bro’ Bears’ Caleb Williams, believes rookie was ‘upset’ with loss

HOUSTON – C.J. Stroud approached Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams with a handshake and a supportive message of advice Sunday night

Despite the Texans’ Pro Bowl quarterback’s good intentions toward the top overall pick and former Heisman Trophy winner from USC, their brief conversation has taken on a life of its own with countless interpretations of Williams’ body language and, even, some wild criticism of Stroud for providing wisdom and perspective.

Here’s what transpired, via NFL Films video of the quarterbacks’ exchange.

“Good job out there, bro,” Stroud told Williams. “Hey, stop taking those hits.”

Williams was sacked seven times, hit 11 times, pressured relentlessly and threw two interceptions during the Texans’ 19-13 victory.

“Yeah, I know, right?” Williams said.

Before a clearly frustrated Williams left the field, Stroud had more to say to the Washington, D.C. native.

“Come here,” Stroud said. “Learn from those mistakes. Everything that you got, bro, is in you already, bro. You going to be a helluva player in this league.”

And that was that, just not on social media or in some analysts’ reports as Williams tried to leave the talk with Stroud twice and was short with him.

From Stroud’s perspective, he wasn’t being anything but respectful toward his fellow quarterback.

“Caleb, I was not trying to treat him like I was trying to little bro him, or nothing,” said Stroud of Williams, 22, who’s one month younger than him. “He knows that, too. I have a ton of respect for him. I told him I have respect for him. I had so many guys come up to me after games last year and that meant the world to me that those guys even thought about giving me advice. So, I just try to give back to what the game is giving to me.

“‘So, I wish him the best. I want him to do amazing in this league. I think he will. I don’t think he was trying to be any towards of way, he was just upset that they lost. I totally understand. I have a ton of respect for that guy. I want him to do extremely well just like any other guy until we play on that day. And after the game, we can be cool. But I’m definitely rooting for him and want to see him do extremely well.”

After the game, Williams was asked about the exchange and wasn’t expansive about the talk with Stroud.

“We shook hands at the end of the game, said ‘Good luck, stay healthy,” Williams said. “That was about it.”

Stroud was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, joining Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only NFL quarterbacks to lead the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio with 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Williams completed 23 of 37 passes for 174 yards with two interceptions against the Texans. He completed just 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards in a win over the Tennessee Titans and has yet to throw a touchdown pass.

“I think that he’ll get his groove,” Stroud said. “Once you get your rhythm, I didn’t get my rhythm until like Week 3 Week 4. So, I can see his game picking up from here. I just try to give back to what the game is giving me. So, I wish him the best man. I want him to do amazing in this league. I think he will.”

Williams has outstanding arm strength and mobility working in his favor. By all accounts, he has a bright future ahead of him. He’s experiencing the growing pains of the NFL.

“I would say the pass game, rhythm and things like that, felt good,” Williams said. “Obviously, I had two stupid mistakes that won’t happen again. But I think I got better getting the ball out of my hands, it felt like, trying to stay in the right range of timing for the offensive linemen and myself and the routes and things like that.”

Stroud, a former Elite 11 standout from Rancho Cucamonga High School, a two-time Heisman Trophy winner at Ohio State and the second overall pick of the draft last year, has thrived while last year’s top overall pick, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, has already been benched.

Stroud likes to share knowledge about the game and he loves to learn, taking advice from retired players like quarterback Tom Brady about football and life off the field.

“I think it’s just who C.J. is as a person more so than a second-year quarterback,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “None of that really factors into just the type of guy that C.J. is. He cares about everyone and, for him, whatever it was, the advice he gave him, that’s C.J. and that’s who he is.

“He’s not changing. Whether it’s him giving advice to other players on other teams, or him leading in our locker room and our guys adhering to what he’s saying. That just speaks volumes to who he is as a man.”

Through two weeks of the regular season, NFL rookie quarterbacks have yet to throw a touchdown pass with a combined 196 attempts. That includes Williams, the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels and the Denver Broncos’ Bo Nix.

“When you’re drafting quarterbacks, it’s hard and we’re talking about the hardest position it is to play, I think, in football, I mean in sports in general,” Ryans said. “It’s a lot on a quarterback’s plate. One I think we all have to just take a step back from, we can’t expect every young quarterback that’s drafted to come in and just tear the league up right away. It doesn’t work that way. Let’s look at Peyton Manning and his career, how he started his first year. One of the best quarterbacks of all time, he didn’t start off tearing the league up as a rookie. So, we have to be patient with all the quarterbacks.

“Some quarterbacks, it takes more time than others, but it’s just about everybody being patient and not everyone being so quick to crown the next superstar because it’s hard to win in this league. It’s hard to lead in this league, especially how young these quarterbacks are coming in and with the weight that’s put on them. I think it’s, personally, too much and everybody’s outside expecting them to come in and be the best in the league and that’s not it. You have to grow, you have to learn, you have to go through some growing pains and that’s how you get better and become a real, true pro in this league.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.