Not long after Aaron Glenn was named the Jets’ coach, one of the first things he did was call linebacker Quincy Williams.

Glenn discussed different aspects of Williams’ play that he wanted him to work on after the two spoke for an hour and a half.

In addition, Glenn also shared his vision for the Jets and their defense with Williams.

“Every year, I try to get better,” Williams said. “Every year, my mindset is to get better.

“Sometimes, I don’t have a blueprint. Sometimes it takes me a while to find out what that next level looks like. That call right there was one of those things where all the thought process went out of the window. It was more like, alright, now you have your challenge now, let’s create a blueprint to get to those challenges as a team and then those challenges as an individual, because if I get my team goals, then I get my individual goals.”

What is the next level for Williams?

“The first part was coming into OTAs,” he said. “We had that conversation and I already told him that I was going to be here because I need to get a mindset of what the defense is going to be like. So when it comes to training camp, it is just competition and not like I’m getting the fundamentals down pat. Now, it is time for the fundamentals.”

Williams has been one of the Jets’ best players on a defensive unit that has finished in the top five in yards allowed each of the last three seasons. During that time, he has registered 361 tackles, seven sacks, and 41 tackles for loss. That led to Williams being selected for the first-time All-Pro team in 2023 and a three-year, $18 million contract extension earlier that offseason.

However, the Jets’ defense slipped last season following Robert Saleh’s firing, amid a disappointing 5-12 campaign. They allowed an average of 313.8 yards per game, which was the third-best in the NFL in 2024. However, during the team’s final 12 games, the Jets allowed an average of 26.6 points per game and 337.9 yards per game.

In addition to the Jets’ defense, Williams’ production dipped slightly from the 2023 season. He finished last season with 116 tackles and two sacks and was not selected to the Pro Bowl or All-Pro team. In Glenn’s and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ system, Williams will likely be asked to blitz the quarterback more regularly. That is an area where Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich’s system was not utilized much, as the Jets’ defense relied more on their front four to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

During the last four seasons under Saleh and Ulbrich, Williams recorded nine sacks.

“He’s a really good player, but there are also some things he has to get better at and he understands that,” Glenn said about Williams. “That shows you the signs of a really good player because they are OK with criticism.

“In this league, even the best players get criticized and they want to be because they want to be better. He is one of those guys that want to be better. I put him in my office and told him things he has got to work on. He knows the things he is good at and the things he’s got to work on and he’s done everything he can to get better at those things.”

In addition to working on various aspects of his game, Williams is also focusing on becoming a leader and establishing himself as a foundational part of the team. To help with that, Williams spoke with his former teammate and Jets captain, C.J. Mosley, recently after the linebacker attended his football camp last weekend.

Mosley was released by the Jets in March, but still lives in the New Jersey area, not far from the team’s practice facility.

“Right now, it is the mindset of picking his brain knowing how to be more of a leader,” When he came to the Jets to a new team, he actually sat out a year. So it was like, what are the things that you worked on to come to a team that you really didn’t know. Like how did you become a leader to those guy, so it’s kind of like the conversation we have now.”