Quinnen Williams swapped his dread of a rebuild for restored faith in the Jets after spending time around Aaron Glenn.
Throw a superhero’s cape into the trade, too.
The Feb. 9 news that the Glenn-coached Jets were cutting Aaron Rodgers hit hard for Williams, who tweeted “another rebuild year for me, I guess,” with a thumbs-down emoji.
But three months later — after the second OTA practice in the third phase of voluntary offseason workouts — Williams has a different outlook.
“It was an immature thing for me to do at the moment — out of emotions, out of frustration,” Williams said Wednesday afternoon. “I hadn’t talked to Aaron previous to that. Just looking at it as trying to grow as a leader. Talking to him and the staff gave me a super, super excited, super, super confidence that we are going in the right direction to win football games and do the things that I want to do.”
What exactly does Williams — the second longest-tenured Jet — want to accomplish under the third head coach and fourth defensive coordinator (Steve Wilks) of his seven-year career? Start with getting the team into the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
“Change the whole narrative of the New York Jets losing streaks or the playoff [droughts] and different things like that,” Williams said. “I was drafted here a long time ago, and I was paid to help change things around. And I wear that as a badge of honor and cape to make sure that 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 day, and I want everybody around me to be that.”
Williams is coming off a third straight Pro Bowl season, but he has totaled just 11.5 sacks over the past two years — down from the career-high 12 in 2022 that helped him land a four-year, $96 million extension.
His run defense grade fell to No. 46 among defensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
“[I made] a lot of mistakes, especially when it comes down to the run game, block-shedding, extension in my arms, finishing my pass rushes, pad level,” Williams said of last season. “Different things like that I kind of struggled with, I want to be able to get better at and fine-tune some things this year so I can be a better player in those aspects.”
The Jets need a dominant Williams to fulfill Glenn’s message that the new regime is “here to win now.”
Defensive linemen Haason Reddick, Javon Kinlaw, Solomon Thomas and Takk McKinley left and were replaced by Byron Cowart, Derrick Nnadi and Jay Tufele. Jermaine Johnson is coming off last season’s torn Achilles tendon.
“I’m still trying to see where I can be my best at and be myself at,” Williams said. “Enjoying learning my new defensive line coach, new head coach and new defensive coordinator.
“Just seeing what they see for me and my future. They’re just telling me what I’m bad at and what I’m good at, and trying to get on the right page.”
Part of Williams’ renewed optimism stems from the free agent signing of Justin Fields as Rodgers’ replacement.
Fields had an inaccurate passing day Wednesday, but flashed the athleticism that allowed him to run for 1,143 yards in 2022.
“I chased him a couple times a day and I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s fast,’ ” Williams said. “So I think that definitely brings excitement.
“And there’s his attitude on wanting to win and wanting to show the world that he can do what we all know he can do.”
Glenn, a former Jets star, previously addressed Williams’ critical tweet by saying he understands when players are upset that teammates are let go, but he wants to keep emotional reactions in-house.
It’s clear Williams heard Glenn’s message through their leadership talks.
“I just know right now, in the moment, it’s going in the right direction to win games by the standard that coach has set for us,” Williams said. “It’s a long way to the first game right now, but I feel the path that we are going is going to be successful if we just listen to him.”
