Caleb Williams vs. C.J. Stroud headlines Bears-Texans on Sunday Night Football | FNIA | NFL on NBC

well we've got C you mentioned social media and all that we've got CJ stra Caleb Williams how do you think this is GNA be Sunday night and play out Caleb Williams going in knowing hey CJ lit it up last year and set the bar I'm competing against this guy do you think he'll just be himself or is there that little extra inside the quarterback that says I want to show people I'm I'm just like CJ you know I used to always think it was important for quarterbacks to know that they were playing against the defense you know sometimes right I mean sometimes you can get caught up in this quarterback battle that the outside world hey it's CJ shroud versus Caleb Williams it's actually Caleb Williams versus the Houston defense and CJ versus the Bears defense and and I always thought that was important to remind those guys of that uh it's a different situation you're playing against these guys we have a certain environment around you they have a certain environment let's not compare and I know the competitive juices get flowing but but the biggest thing for the Bears is hey Caleb we got to get you to a point where you're playing the game at a higher level forget the guy who's playing quarterback on the other side and and and I think that's what they'll they'll try to do and again I think the biggest thing is to spread the burden around you know simy and I talked about this on the show the other night I think it's important the easiest down to throw on in the NFL is first down the the the hardest down to throw on his third down and so sometimes people get into the this rhythm of hey we're going to help our Young quarterback we're going to run it run it and we'll get get him to third manageable well okay even if you do a good job you're gonna have a third and three that you're gonna have to make and so if you can give him some first down completions particularly where he can make first downs if you can make first downs on first down against run defenses throwing the ball that's a really good Rhythm to get into it's going to give more plays then you can get the Run game going and you're attacking the defense different ways and I think that's something that that the Bears can do you know on the flip side CJ strout has been so so impressive and they've added a lot of pieces having mix in there and Diggs that's going to help them I do think that over the course of the year they're going to face more challenges than last year because a lot of teams just study them and and okay Houston we didn't know who they were last year now we do threat so now what do they do well let's take that away I think they're going to face those things as this season goes on and even though I think they've improved their talent their schedule is harder I think they'll be more of a Target so those challenges are ahead but but it certainly looks like CJ's up to it yeah no question about it and I'm gonna throw a little Theory out there I think both of these quarterbacks are going to benefit from having defense defensive coaches uh demo Ryans didn't put it all on CJ yeah he had a great year but let's build the defense let's be able to run the football let's play solid and I know Matt eberl really well in Chicago and I promise you he's telling Caleb Williams you don't have to do everything you don't have to win the game just like we played last week we're going to have great defense we're going to get the ball back for you and get you some short field we're going to get some special teams plays and help you do it just know what you have to do be Caleb Williams do it and we're gonna be fine we're gonna win games while you're growing no doubt I I I couldn't agree with you more and again that makes the environment that much easier and I think the other thing that a defensive head coach can do for a Young quarterback is they can kind of put their arm around the guy and say hey this is what the defense this is how they see you and this is what they're going to try to take away so it's a different perspective than an offensive coach would give that young guy now certainly he need both perspectives the offensive coaches certainly are going to share some wisdom they're going to help them but sometimes when you see it from the other side and and and and you hear that wisdom from the other side sometimes that can that light bulb can go off for that quarterback and can help them and just in terms of what their expectations are for themselves and what they need to do to win no question no doubt well as we look ahead the Sunday night what do you think we'll see from Caleb where do you think he can make some progress from week one to week two again I I I think if they give him those first down throws I think that's a good thing I think that if they can move him and you know coach we talk a lot about progression reads and and your progression read is hey I'm going to throw it to this receiver I'm GNA throw it to the tight end I'm GNA throw it to the X I'm going to throw it to the back don't tell me what the coverage is just I'm going to go through this progression and sometimes that can help a Young quarterback often times that's the read you would have on a movement type throw if you came out on a naked you say Okay tight end to the over route back to the tight end and so I think if they can get him into those type of reads as much as they can I think that can help the transition every offense in the NFL has those they also have full field reads they have reads where you're reading the safety it's all part of it but early on if you can air in the sight of don't worry so much about the coverage just worry about the decisions you're making find the tight find the X receiver then throw it to the back that can help you play faster and I think that's the biggest thing for him he was a little indecisive last week he was trying to process a lot of different things he was having to deal with disguises he can take those elements out by just have him progression read some things and get him some completions yeah well I'm I'm looking forward to watching him I think he's gonna have that step up in Improvement CJ stra didn't get off to a great start last year week one played against the tough Baltimore more defense struggled a little bit and you know there's the stats there yeah he threw for a lot more yards but had a lot more throws and was sacked five times didn't throw a touchdown pass so some of the same things but he in week two took a step and I think we'll see that from Caleb as well no doubt no doubt I'm a huge Caleb Williams fan you know I do those Notre Dame games coach and and last year they were playing USC and and I'm watching the the tape of USC leading up to the game so I probably watched five or six games and and I am just like this guy is Unstoppable I mean I couldn't believe how good he was and I was talking to Al gold in the defensive coordinate Notre Dame before the game and and Al's like oh we're gonna have a rush plan we're going to do this we're going to do that we're gonna have this we're GNA force him to go left and we're going to disguise the covers this way and I'm thinking of myself that's all fine and good other teams have been trying to do that too and this guy just he runs around he just makes plays now Notre Dame really got after him that night but there still is plenty of evidence on tape that he's been able to function in in in a lot of different environments and play at a high level the thing that's really exceptional about this guy and and and and I think it's extreme to say he could play running back in the NFL but he has amazing running ability amazing ability to cut and you know the the the proverbial put your foot in the ground and go I mean he does it like a running back does it and I do think for them to to grow and help him transition mixing in some quarterback runs and taking advantage of that ability will allow him to settle into a game and have some positive plays so I think that can be part of what they do as well going forward yeah I really think especially this week that Houston defense is very good I think we're going to see Caleb Williams with some scramble plays that make a difference some off schedu plays and and that's where I think he's going to grow a little bit this week and put some pressure on them yeah he's pretty rare in that regard hi I'm Mike too and thanks for watching make sure to hit subscribe for the latest news and highlights from NBC Sports