Quinnen back
Williams off PUP list and on solid DL
Quinnen Williams cleared an important hurdle in his return to the Jets.
On Monday, the team activated Williams (broken bone in foot) off the Physically Unable to Perform list. He will join an already talented defensive line that features Carl Lawson, Sheldon Rankins, Folorunso Fatukasi, John Franklin-Myers, Nathan Shepherd and Bryce Huff.
The hype surrounding this defensive line isn’t hyperbole either, it’s a legit group. And should be a top-10 unit this season.
“We got a family full of sharks. Man we all gone eat,” Williams said Monday.
With Wiliams back in the fold, opposing teams with weak protection will have to “buckle their s---,” as Rankins explained, because teams that sleep on the Jets will “get their a-- blown out,” as C.J Mosley put it Saturday.
The strongest part of the defensive line has been its depth, something coach Robert Saleh has boasted.
“We can truly come at them in waves,” Saleh said. “We usually activate eight guys on the defensive line. We want all eight playing a significant amount, especially on the inside. We got Quinnen, Foley, Shep and Rankins. It’s a really good interior group, it’s very deep. The amount of push they get is pretty cool.”
The unit can reach its maximum potential with Williams, but Gang Green isn’t rushing him back onto the field. The plan for the former No. 3 overall pick is to gradually work his way back into game shape. That starts this week when the Jets travel to Green Bay to hold joint practices with the Packers.
Williams won’t play against the Packers on Aug. 21. He will still participate in practice.
Getting Williams back on the field is positive news. Thinking of the big picture, the marriage between Williams’ talent and Saleh’s defensive scheme equals a potentially dominant season for the former Alabama standout.
The job of the line in Saleh’s defense is to attack upfield every snap. Other schemes sometimes require the lineman to engage with the offensive lineman in their assigned gaps and read the blocks before reacting. Saleh doesn’t want his guys reading, however, just knocking back offensive linemen.
That system helped the 49ers develop one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL in 2019, when Saleh was the team’s defensive coordinator. That team allowed just 19 points per game (seventh fewest) and was fifth in sacks (48). It was a key ingredient in the 49ers’ Super Bowl LIV run.
Williams paid attention to that explosive front when the 49ers were at their peak and now relishes the opportunity to run it under Saleh.
“It’s an amazing scheme, I love the scheme and I love the defense in general,” Williams said.
Last season, he finished with seven sacks in 13 games, which was sixth most for an interior lineman. He also recorded 10 tackles for loss and 14 quarterback hits. That production came under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, whose system required defensive lineman to make reads before reacting.
Williams isn’t predicting an excellent season, but will let his actions speak through the year.
“I’m not a guy who set goals like stats and different stuff like that,” Williams said. “I just want to execute and dominate every single play that I can.”