The Jets' new black/light iron ore/dark stucco Gotham City Football "Rivalries" uniforms will prove more ominous to opponents than in their debut against Miami on Sunday. But the Green & White were in need of some sparks during the gray 34-10 loss to the Dolphins, and one player supplied more than his share.
And Isaiah Williams agreed that for just a small portion of Sunday's game, he thought about that "redemption" tag that he's been fulfilling ever since committing two return errors in the Jets' Week 4 loss, which just happened to come at Miami.
"All throughout the week, I'm like this is just another game," Williams said. "But when I hit the field, I'm not like I'm going to force anything. But this ... it just kind of hit me what happened, being able to bounce back from it. It was like, man, this was the perfect opportunity for me to put on display everything I learned from that game."
Williams made some green sparks fly just a little bit. His first fireworks display was a familiar script for the Jets and their fans. Four games after dazzling the MetLife faithful with his 74-yard punt-return score against Cleveland, he did it again with 20 seconds left in the opening quarter, when his electricity seemed as if it just might light the Jets' way back into the competition. He started right, cut back wide left, then knifed through the Miami coverage before tumbling across the goal line, this time with a 78-yard PR score.
"Man, it's all 11 guys doing their jobs. That's really what it is," he said. "Every time we go on special teams, we expect to make a play. Those guys block for me and all I've got to do is just run, find an open lane and score."
Not surprisingly, Williams found his way into the franchise record book with that mad dash, which made him the third different player to return two punts for TDs in the same season. Understated Titans great Dick Christy did it twice, in 1961 and again in '62. Santana Moss was the only other Jet to do it, in back-to-back games in 2002, against Cleveland and at San Diego.
"When you get a win, I feel like that makes it sweeter," Williams said of his centerpiece play. "But anytime you can make a play like that in this league, it's a blessing."
Williams isn't limiting himself merely to punts, though. A week after his 83-yard kickoff return vs. Atlanta, he provided two more modest KO returns against the Dolphins of 38 and 31 yards. Along with 91 total punt-return yards and 24 yards on two receptions, his 184 all-purpose yards gave him his third 150-yard APY outing in the Jets' last six games.
Depending on how the rest of this week's games shake out, he could be the only qualifying returner in the NFL's top five in both PR and KR averages. Just his hidden yardage alone — including the Falcons simply kicking deep touchbacks rather than letting Williams and Kene Nwangwu return kickoffs — can be a winning factor.
And about those receiving yards, Williams did his best to help the inexperienced but battling Brady Cook, the free agent rookie QB who was pressed into duty the drive before Williams' punt-return magic due to Tyrod Taylor's injured groin.
The wideout/returner's first offensive contribution doesn't show up in the usual places because he drew a 39-yard pass interference call against veteran S Minkah Fitzpatrick. It was the longest penalty flagged against a Jets opponent in the last four seasons and it set Cook and the Jets offense up 1st-and-10 at the Dolphins 16.
Williams' second snare wasn't going to make any difference in the outcome, but his 15-yard reception did move the chains to first-and-goal at the 'Fins 9 with 1:19 to play.
In the immediate aftermath of both of those plays, Cook tried to find the guys in the dark uniforms and instead threw red zone interceptions to the Aqua & Coral. As Cook explained: "I was forcing the ball into the end zone, trying to make plays."
Williams is convinced those Cook plays will come in time, perhaps as soon as Sunday at Jacksonville depending on the health statuses of both Taylor and Justin Fields, who was inactive due to his midweek knee injury.
"After the game, me, Metch [John Metchie] and AD [Adonai Mitchell] were talking about him, like, bro, he's special," Williams said. "Coming from me, we all have games where it's going to make or break us, and how he came back every time to the huddle and everybody was just bought into what he was doing, like, he's special, he's got it."
But what seems readily apparent is that while Williams is still riding his redemption vibe after his lost fumble and ill-advised deep fair catch in late September primetime, followed by his temporary roster release. He's now cashing in plays in potentially game-changing big ways.
"Consistency," he said was the secret to the Jets getting back on their own self-improvement stretch run. "I think that's just life, though. We all have sparks. You have the offense that might play good and the defense might not, or the offense and defense might play good and special teams might not.
"We need everybody to be consistent for a full game. I feel that's the biggest thing we need is just consistency."
But be sure to pack the Isaiah Williams fireworks in the travel bag for Jacksonville as well.
