The Jets' defense got a welcome boost last week with the return of veteran outside linebacker Quincy Williams, who was placed on the injured list after sustaining a shoulder injury in the Week 3 game at Tampa Bay. He missed four games.
He was activated for last week's victory at Cincinnati, bringing his speed and energy to the second tier of the defense and easing a bit of the linebacking burden on MLB Jamien Sherwood. An added bonus is that Williams was on the field at the end, when the Jets stopped the Bengals to secure the Jets first win of the season and first under HC Aaron Glenn.
"It felt good just seeing happiness on his face," Williams, 29, said afterward.
Overall in the 39-38 win, Williams played 52-of-59 snaps on defense (88%), the exact same as his brother DL Quinnen Williams. He checked in with 7 tackles, the same number as slot CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr., and 1 less than rookie DB Malachi Moore. Williams also had a TFL and 2 passes defended.
Friendly and outgoing, Williams has cemented a lot of relationships with the Green & White since being plucked off the waiver wire before the start of the 2021 season after two seasons with Jacksonville. In each of his four complete seasons with the Jets, Williams has logged more than 100 tackles and earned first-team All-Pro notice from The Associated Press after his 138-tackle (95 solo) performance in 2023. That season he also had 2 sacks, 10 PD, 2 forced fumbles and 15 TFL.
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Among those solid relationships is a surprisingly close and deepening friendship with steady veteran D-lineman Harrison Phillips, who was acquired in a trade with Minnesota before the start of the season.
"Quincy is one of the guys that I'm really becoming good friends with on the team," Phillips said. "Me and him, for some reason our personalities work well together. We sit together on the plane, so that's who I was able to watch the film with and he's just a spit ball of energy.
"I remember when I first talked to you guys [reporters] about having to change my style of play a little bit, it was because I was thinking about how fast he comes down and pulls the double teams off. It was cool to see him shoot through a gap and go get a major TFL there in the [Bengals] game and just do the things that he does. But it's energy, and I can feel his passion at practice when we've been bringing up and calling out, he has a way to lead and motivate the group that's completely different than I am.
"We talk a lot about how we're kind of a yin and a yang in our leadership styles and we've talked about it for hours on how we see things and motivate this way, and we do a really good job of complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. So when there's a player that's going through something, me and him are often playing good cop, bad cop and it's really fun. But yeah, having him out there with his talent, very thankful to have him playing behind me."
