On Feb. 9, hours before Super Bowl LIX, news surfaced that new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey would release Aaron Rodgers before the start of free agency.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who has been on the team since he was drafted third overall in 2019, showed his displeasure after tweeting “Another rebuild year for me, I guess,” with a thumbs-down emoji.
Williams later deleted the tweet and on Wednesday, he told reporters he regretted the post.
“I definitely think it was an immature thing for me to do at the moment, out of emotion, out of frustration,” Williams said. “I hadn’t talked to Aaron [Glenn] previously to that.
“Just looking at that and trying to grow as a leader and as a player and grow as an adult. Talking to him, talking to the staff gave me a super, super excited, super, super confident that we are going in the right direction to win football games and do the thing I want to do.
“It was an immature thing to do at the moment and I’ve grown from that. Me and Aaron talked a lot about it. Me and the GM talked about it a lot, me and the coaching staff. We are all on the same page.”
Like many Jet players the previous two seasons, Williams expected to challenge for a playoff spot in the AFC and contend for a Super Bowl after the trade for Rodgers in April 2023. But after a 7-10 and a 5-12 record the last two years, Jets owner Woody Johnson fired Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas and hired Glenn and Mougey last January.
Williams is the second-longest-tenured Jet player. He has endured six consecutive losing seasons since the team selected him third overall in 2019. In addition, Williams has had three different coaches and four defensive coordinators during that span.
Despite the influx of changes with the Jets coaching staff, Williams has been one of the best defensive tackles in the league. But he is striving for more, including helping end the Jets’ 14-year postseason drought, the longest in North American sports.
“Change the whole narrative of the New York Jets losing streak or the playoff [drought] and different things like that,” Williams said. “I was drafted here a long time ago and I was paid to help turn this thing around.
“I wear that with a badge of honor and a cape to make sure before I leave this game, the New York Jets are going to be on top, the New York Jets are going to be the team to watch. I kind of live that every single day and I want everybody around me to be that.”
Williams has made three consecutive Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2022. In that span, he has registered 154 tackles, 23.5 sacks, and 31 tackles for loss. But Williams’ numbers in 2024 were down from the last couple of seasons.
In 16 games, Williams registered 37 tackles, six sacks, and eight tackles for loss. His best season came during the 2022 season, when he finished with a career-high 12 sacks, 55 tackles, and 12 tackles for loss, which led to the Jets giving Williams a four-year, $96 million contract extension in 2023.
Williams has been talking to Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, hoping to improve different aspects of his game.
“[I made] a lot of mistakes, especially when it comes down to the run game and block shed and extension of my arms,” Williams said. “Finishing my pass rushes, pad level that I struggled with last year, and want to be able to get better at and fine-tune some things so I can be a better player in those aspects.”
Williams wasn’t a fan of the Jets’ releasing Rodgers, but he is optimistic about the team’s direction because of new quarterback Justin Fields. Gang Green signed Fields, 26, to a two-year, $40 million contract, believing he can be its long-term solution.
During OTAs on Wednesday, Fields had an uneven day throwing the ball in the rain, but he completed several passes to Garrett Wilson and Jeremy Ruckert. Fields is more known for his running ability than his accuracy after rushing for 2,509 yards and 19 touchdowns in four seasons with the Bears and Steelers.
“A guy who can run extremely fast like that guy who can make bombs down the field and the different great things that he brings to the aspect of the game when it comes down to a dual-threat quarterback,” Williams said about Fields. “Feel like he’s one of the top five dual-threat quarterbacks or one of the top 10 dual-threat quarterbacks in the league right now.
“I chased him a couple of times a day, and I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s fast.’ I think I think that definitely brings excitement and there’s his attitude on wanting to win also and wanting to show the world and things that he can do that we all know he can do.”