During the second week of Caleb Williams's rookie season in 2024, he faced off against another young quarterback in C.J. Stroud, who was coming off an incredible rookie season in which he won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Stroud and the Texans would defeat Williams and the Bears in the game after Williams was sacked seven times and threw two interceptions.
Afterward, Stroud sought out Williams postgame to offer some advice, telling Williams to "stop taking those hits." Williams started to walk away and Stroud pulled him back in to tell him to learn from his mistakes and also share some more encouraging words. Though Williams said "appreciate it" back to Stroud, he did not appear interested in listening to the advice from Stroud at all in the moment.
.@CJ7STROUD had some words of encouragement for @CALEBcsw.
— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024
"You're gonna be a hell of a player in this league." 🤝 pic.twitter.com/EkGCMOl0ew
Nine months later at Fanatics Fest on Friday, Kay Adams asked Stroud if had any advice for Williams going into his second NFL season.
Stroud joked in response, "I don't know if Caleb likes my advice," prompting Williams to laugh.
Stroud did go on to give some advice, including that defensive coordinators will be actively scouting his weaknesses and trying to take away what he does well. Stroud also offered similar advice to what he told Williams after that Texans-Bears game, cautioning Williams not to take too many hits.
"I think I told you on the field, the less hits you take, the better because it's a long, long season," Stroud said at Fanatics Fest. "The more you can get down, get rid of the ball, check it down, and just be smart, that's the advice I would give. I think you're going to do great, like you've always done."
Neither Williams nor Stroud ended up following Stroud's advice last season, as the two quarterbacks finished as the most sacked quarterbacks in the NFL in 2024. Both the Bears and Texans have made changes to the offensive line this offseason to help out their young signal-callers, with the Bears acquiring offensive linemen Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson and the Texans adding several veteran linemen while trading away Shaq Mason, Kenyon Green, and Laremy Tunsil.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as C.J. Stroud Had Funny Line About Viral Postgame Moment With Caleb Williams.
