It was a battle of two highly-touted quarterbacks when last year’s NFL Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud and his Houston Texans took on the 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The two young quarterbacks duked it out in a slugfest that saw Houston (now 2-0) pick up a 19-13 victory over the Monsters of the Midway.
Following the contest, the two teams met on the field in a show of sportsmanship, as has become the custom in pro football for decades. As handshakes and hugs were being exchanged, the cameras caught the on-field encounter between Stroud and Williams.
Stroud was mic’d up for the night’s game, and one of the more talked-about moments circulating around online was the brief conversation Stroud had with his fellow phenom. For many observers and fans on social media, it appeared as if Stroud was lecturing one of his contemporaries.
C.J. Stroud Addresses On-Field Interaction With Caleb Williams After Texans Beat Bears
A Quarterback Convergence
Stroud felt the need to explain the exchange to the media, as he didn’t want any misunderstanding over what he shared with the Bears’ budding star. He quoted what he relayed to Williams following their Sunday Night Football showdown.
“Good job out there, bro. Hey, stop taking those hits,” Stroud said on September 18, but as Caleb Willams began to walk away from his counterpart, the Texans’ signal-caller grabbed him and continued the conversation.
“Come here. Learn from those mistakes. And everything that you got, bro, is in you already, bro. You’re going to be a hell of a player in this league.”
However, some fans and critics thought Stroud was essentially talking down to the first-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and trying to ‘big-time’ him. When a few confused and negative reactions to the encounter immediately gained steam, the Texans QB sought to clarify his statements to Williams.
“I was not trying to ‘little bro’ him or anything. He knows that, too. I have a ton of respect for him,” Stroud stated later on in the week. “I had so many guys coming to me after games last year and that meant the world to me that those guys even thought about giving me advice.”
“I just try to give back to what the game is giving me,” he continued. “I wish him the best man. I want him to do amazing in this league. I think he will.”
Will the Texans’ Hot Start Continue in Week 3?
Entering week 3, the Texans are one of nine teams that remain undefeated so far this season – along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, and the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
While it’s still early, Houston is already showing that they are built for a return to the postseason.
The team will face one of those fellow, unbeaten squads on Sunday when they battle Minnesota. Head coach DeMeco Ryans says his team expects to have their hands full against the Vikings, particularly on the road.
“They’re coached really well,” Ryans told reporters on September 18. “Their defense is playing great. I think they’ve held opponents to I think under 25 points so far. So, their defense is playing really lights out. Offensively, they played well yesterday, had big explosives. They’re playing well together.”
“So, we’ll get further, we’ll get more into those guys as we go throughout the week. But 2-0 team and we know Minnesota is always a tough place to play. That crowd there is always – they’re always loud. They make it challenging on us from an offensive perspective. So, I already know going into it, we have to be on it with our cadence. We have to be on it with our pre-snap communication all the way across the board.”
Main Photo: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
