Video: Message from CJ Stroud to Caleb Williams after Bears vs. Texans reveal | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

CJ Stroud may only be in his second season in the NFL, but he is an established superstar and one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

There are far worse people to give advice to a rookie quarterback, and that’s exactly what happened to Caleb Williams after Stroud’s Houston Texans beat his Chicago Bears on Sunday.

“Stop taking those hits,” Stroud told Williams after the game. “Learn from those mistakes. Everything you got, bro, is already in you, bro. You’re going to be a great player in this league.”

Chicago’s defense played well enough to win in the 19-13 loss, but the offensive line’s complete failure to protect Williams was the biggest storyline. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft was sacked seven times and hit 11 times.

NFL.com’s Kevin Patra noted that Next Gen Stats revealed that Chicago’s five starting offensive linemen alone allowed 28 quarterback pressures. That’s completely untenable for a rookie quarterback making his second career start against a potential Super Bowl contender.

“I’m a little bruised,” Williams told reporters. “I took a few knocks today. I’m going to get in ice baths and do whatever I need to do to make sure my body is ready for tomorrow and the rest of the days training and obviously the next game.”

The pressure mounted as the game wore on. Before halftime, he completed 12 of 15 passes for 91 yards and a 91.9 passer rating. In the second half, however, he completed 11 of 22 passes for 83 yards, two interceptions and a 21.6 passer rating, Patra said.

Chicago didn’t do him much favors either, as there were multiple false starts out of timeouts and two bad challenges from head coach Matt Eberflus that cost the visitors timeouts. Running back D’Andre Swift also finished with 18 yards on 14 carries and struggled to find holes behind the same porous offensive line.

Stroud was something of a best-case scenario for a rookie quarterback, as he won Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the Texans to an AFC South crown. He also won a playoff game.

Chicago undoubtedly had something similar in mind when it drafted Williams with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet and Swift, but the offensive line will have to make drastic strides as the season progresses to make that happen.