Isaiah Williams looked pretty quick last season when he returned punts against the Dolphins and Browns for touchdowns, but over the offseason, the wide receiver wanted to get even faster.
"I did a lot of speed training this offseason," Williams said. "One of the best track coaches, training with some Olympians, so just worked on getting faster, running a lot, just wanting to score some more touchdowns."
In Arizona, Williams worked with the Altis group, run by CEO Stu McMillan, which specializes in speed development. Over 100 Olympians have been coached through the program and 56 Olympic medals have been won by Altis-coached athletes. Williams, who considers himself a visual learner, said he gained the most from training alongside the Olympians.
"I feel like a lot of times it's easy to try to pinpoint one thing, but it's not just one thing that makes you great," said Williams about what he looked for while training. "It's a combination of things. It's not just stride, [the Olympians] did a bunch of things and did some things better, so I'll pick those up. Same with football players, it's a combination of things that make you a good football player."
Aside from speed, Williams worked on mental training over the offseason.
"It's just a belief, like believing in myself, believing in our team, believing in what this organization can do and what we can accomplish together," Williams said.
In 2025, it was hard to miss his special teams impact. He averaged 14.1 yards/punt return, which was fifth among all qualifying NFL punt returners last season and third-highest in Jets franchise history (among qualifying returners).
See Jets players like Garrett Wilson & Demario Davis going to work during the second practice of mandatory minicamp.
"His confidence believing that any time the ball is in his hands that he can make a play happen," special teams coordinator Chis Banjo said. "I think he has really good contact balance, I think his start-stop is phenomenal. So, there are a couple of different metrics that I think he possesses and talents that he possesses that really make him a tough down for anybody throughout the league and we just look forward to him being him on a consistent basis."
His two punt return TDs were the best by a Jet in the past 23 seasons, when Santana Moss reached the end zone twice in 2002. Williams and Kene Nwangwu had a majority of the Jets kickoff return workload and the team average of 29.9 yards per and was No. 1 in the NFL. As a receiver, Williams had 26 receptions for 193 yards.
"I love playing football and however I can get on the football field, as many times as I can get on the football field, that's what I want to do," said Williams, about anticipating a larger receiving role in his second season with the Jets (third overall). "If a larger role does come, I can't really control that, I'll be ready for it. I'll be ready."
In Frank Reich's offensive system, Williams likes how "you can put your own swagger on it," and with QB Geno Smith, he has a new mentor.
"[Geno] didn't try to be a leader…he was just himself and he's a natural leader," Williams said. "I've learned a lot from [him] already and I'm not talking about football wise. I'm talking about being a man. How he carries himself off the field, like the conversations we had…Man, I look up to him."
