Williams’ wrist is better

Leonard Williams is finding his passrushing rhythm, and the Jets defensive lineman believes improved health has played a major role in his increased production. Williams was battling a bruised left wrist for most of the first half of the season, an injury he first suffered during a preseason game. He was forced to wear a cast on his arm and didn’t record a sack until the Jets’ ninth game of the year.

But now Williams says the wrist is “not an issue anymore.” He ditched the cast several games ago, and that’s coincided with his best stretch of the season. Williams still only has 1.5 sacks on the year, but he’s tied for sixth in the league with 17 quarterback hits. Eleven of those 17 QB hits have come in the Jets’ past four games, including four two weekends ago at the Bucs.

“I’m feeling really good physically,” Williams said Monday on a conference call. “The beginning of the season, I don’t want to use as an excuse, but I can see on film that my wrist was definitely affecting me. I was playing with a cast, and I see that I wasn’t really shooting my hand as effectively as I could have. These last few games before the bye, on film it just looks completely different. I’ve been able to shed people. I’ve been able to use my hand, get off of blocks and just be more effective.”

Williams also notched his first full sack of 2017 in that loss in Tampa.

“He’s getting healthy and getting back to himself,” Todd Bowles said. “He’s been disruptive.”