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This is a first.
I’ve been covering the Jets for a quarter century, and I can’t recall a player ever telling the media he was benched.
Obviously, we find out sometimes and ask them why, through that didn’t happen in the case of linebacker Jamien Sherwood, who was benched for the first quarter in Cincinnati.
But on Wednesday, linebacker Quincy Williams told ESPN’s Rich Cimini, he has been benched.
“My coaches told me I was underperforming, that I’ve been underperforming since training camp,” Williams told ESPN on Wednesday.
He described himself to Cimini as “a non-starting Jet.”
Cimini also wrote, “Rookie Kiko Mauigoa is the top candidate to replace Williams in the lineup.”
If that is the direction they go, that wouldn’t make a lot of sense.
While most people aren’t paying attention to this, perhaps because it doesn’t involve fantasy football, Mauigoa is struggling.
The rookie has struggled in coverage, often a tick late reacting and getting over late.
And that is actually one of the issues with Williams.
Williams is one tough hombre. He plays with an attitude. He’s one of the fastest and hardest-hitting linebackers.
He also plays hurt all the time.
He returned from IR last week after being out with a shoulder injury. He clearly wasn’t 100 percent. It looked like he struggled to take off his jersey after the game over his problematic shoulder. Do you really think messed-up shoulders totally heal in a month? C’mon now. It was better than it was after a month of rest and rehab, but probably not 100 percent.
In 2022, he played through a high ankle sprain.
This guy is tough as boot leather.
But while he gives you everything he’s got and represents everything you’d want in a football player from a mindset and toughness standpoint, his instincts are just so-so.
For a linebacker as fast as he is, you would expect more plays in coverage, because there aren’t a lot of tight ends and running backs that can run away from him.
In five years with the Jets, he has one interception, and in his first four years with the Jets, he averaged five defensed passes per campaign.
Also, while he’s a big hitter in run support, sometimes, on some big chunk runs, his angles to the ball open big holes. He often runs around blocks instead of taking them on, perhaps due to his size (5-11, 225), often outweighed by pulling linemen by 100 pounds.
Look, he’s gives you everything he’s got, but the film is somewhat inconsistent.
However, you might not have known that due to the current state of football reporting. Once again, it’s not like baseball, where you can’t hide in plain sight.
For the last five years, Williams has been lauded as one of the Jets’ best players, but there were some issues that were ignored.
And clearly, Aaron Glenn isn’t going to ignore them anymore. There was a reason the Jacksonville Jaguars moved on from the player in his second year, after picking him in the third round in 2019.
His instincts are somewhat inconsistent – hit or miss.
The previous regime seldom benched anybody. Robert Saleh, a good man, seemed like a people pleaser who perhaps didn’t want to hurt feelings.
Joe Douglas never seemed to cut anybody in-season to send a message.
But Glenn, a Bill Parcells disciple, is wired differently. He won’t hesitate to bench or cut players if he feels it’s necessary.
Heck, he’s not afraid to trade two of his best players on the same day.
The bottom line Glenn and his defensive coaches go over the film with a fine-tooth comb every week. They know what is in their playbook and what they are asking players to do, assignment-wise, on every play.
And clearly, Williams sometimes isn’t doing what he’s being asked to do within the framework of the scheme.
Who might replace him?
If it’s Mauigoa, that would be surprising. He doesn’t seem ready.
If he’s healthy, it could be Marcelino McCrary-Ball or Mykal Walker, two veteran linebackers with a good feel for the game.
Walker probably should have been the replacement for Sherwood in the first quarter at Cincinnati, not Mauigoa, who is a project. Walker is a six-year NFL veteran.
November 6, 2025
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