Isaiah Williams has been named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. But the story of his dynamic return-game contributions to the Jets' 39-38 win at Cincinnati didn't begin on Sunday but rather a month earlier.
It is a tale of NFL redemption. Williams, signed off the Bengals' practice squad on Sept. 10, was cut Oct. 4 after committing two costly return errors under the Monday night lights at Miami.
"I didn't think I was going to get another opportunity this year, if I'm being honest," Williams said this week ahead of the Jets' bye weekend. "My biggest thing was I'm going to come back to the practice squad, work my tail off, get better every single day, make my teammates better in every aspect. And when I do get my opportunity — if I do get another opportunity — I'm going to make the most of it."
Williams' South Florida issues included fumbling away the second-half kickoff, leading to a Miami touchdown and a 17-3 lead, then fair-catching a punt at the Jets' 3-yard line early in the final period, bottling up the offense in a 24-13 game. A Green & White comeback fell short in the 27-21 loss. Williams was released the day before Game 5 against Denver in London.
But head coach Aaron Glenn, special teams coordinator Chris Banjo and the staff thought enough of Williams' potential that he was re-signed to the practice squad the next week and to the active roster the week after that.
Fast-forward to the Bengals. Maybe it was because Williams knew exactly what his coaches wanted, having spent the first half of 2024 on the Lions when Glenn was their D-coordinator. Or maybe because he was familiar with his opponent and Paycor Stadium, having spent the second half of last season and this preseason with the Bengals.
Or maybe his spiritual side kicked in big-time. "Most of all, it's just glory to God," he said. "That's the only thing that got me through that."
Williams' biggest returns came in the pivotal final quarter. A 37-yard kickoff-return dash to his 40 set up the Jets for a quick 60-yard drive to Breece Hall's second TD. And a 21-yard punt return to his 42 similarly positioned the Green & White for a 58-yard quick march to Hall's halfback-option toss to TE Mason Taylor for the TD with 1:54 to play that, along with Nick Folk's key extra point, put the Jets ahead to stay for their first win of the season.
On the day, Williams had 132 yards on 5 kickoff returns and 38 yards on 3 punt returns. His 170 total kick-return yards tied for eighth-most in an NFL game this season, His 25.5 yards/kickoff return has helped lift the Jets' team return average to fourth-best in the league.
And while his scrimmage showing wouldn't have affected his Special Teams Player of the Week standing, he added 56 yards on an end-around and 3 receptions for a 226-yard all-purpose game, the most APY by a Jet in four seasons and the most in a road game in 11 seasons.
"Isaiah did a hell of a job returning the ball," Glenn said. "Obviously, it's a pretty good redemption story of what happened with him fumbling the ball and him making that mistake of catching the ball beyond that 10-yard rule that we have, and now he's in the groove of understanding exactly what we want when it comes to the returner."
"That meant everything to me. After that game, it really hit me and showed me that I'm meant to be here," Williams said of quickly returning to the team after his dark Monday night. "It was tough for me, but that's life. Everybody goes through things. It's how you bounce back, how you persevere through those things. The righteous man falls down seven times but gets up eight. That's what I live by."
The NFL weekly award is the first by a Jet this season, the 14th since 2021 and the seventh by a Jets special-teamer since '21. The most recent conference ST-POW award went to Williams teammate Kene Nwangwu after the game against Seattle last season, when he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
