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Former Jets linebacker Quincy Williams is now starting for the Cleveland Browns.
His former linebacker coach with the Jets, Mike Rutenberg, is now the Browns defensive coordinator.
Williams was the Jets linebacker coach for four years (2021-24), and Williams was with him the entire time in Florham Park.
Williams is a terrific run defender and blitzer, but had issues in pass coverage during his time with the Jets.
It was reported that he gave up four touchdown passes in a Jets loss to Jacksonville last year.
The Jets should try to target him in coverage, perhaps with their talented tight end room, which could get back Mason Taylor.
Last week was not a great week for the Jets offense, with the team going 0-7 on third down and possessing the ball for just 17:15. Frank Reich is an excellent OC. He has proven that over time, but in that particular game, you could argue that Bears DC Dennis Allen won the Jets match.
If the Jets are going to win the game this Sunday, Reich must win the chess match against Rutenberg, who is in his first season as an NFL DC.
If Rutenberg is running the scheme he learned under Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich (with the Jets and then Atlanta), it probably won’t have as many disguised looks as Allen did last week. That Saleh-Ulbrich defense has a lot of static looks. It’s more about aggressiveness, hustle, toughness, and flying to the football. All Gas, No Breaks.
So if the Jets can protect Smith well, they should have opportunities in the passing game, and one could be targeting Williams, who is tough as bootleather but can be a tick late reacting in pass coverage at times.
If the Jets don’t look to exploit this, you could argue that would be a mistake . . .
Speaking of tight ends, Mason Taylor could return this week after missing the last two games with a thumb injury.
But if he does return, he could be limited to a degree, because the thumb probably isn’t 100 percent; he was heavily wrapped for practice today, as you can see in the photo above.
Somebody else dealing with a hand or finger issue is Jet special team’s ace, Quantez Stigger, who was practicing with his right hand heavily wrapped . . .
Last year, Chris Harris was the Jets’ secondary coach/passing game coordinator until mid-December, when he was elevated to defensive coordinator after Woody Johnson fired Steve Wilks.
But then early this off-season, it was announced that Aaron Glenn would be taking over calling defensive plays, with the assistance of a new DC, Brian Duker.
So some wondered what might happen to Harris, especially since most of the defensive staff was fired last January.
Well, Harris was retained, and still has the title he had prior to taking over as interim DC late last season: defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator.
But watching practice this season, it looks like he’s the de facto cornerback coach, taking over that role from Dre Bly, who was let go after last season. During individual drills today, the defensive backs split into three groups: safeties, cornerbacks, and nickel backs (slot CBs). Ryan Slowik coaches the safeties, Ronald Booker coaches the nickel backs, and Harris handles the outside corners . . .
The Jets offensive line has been criticized for their play as a unit over the last three weeks, but I think this game is set-up perfectly for them to have a bounce-back game.
Though, while this might sound strange, I don’t think they had a terrible game in Chicago.
First of all, for as little as the Jets offense was on the field, running back Braelon Allen had a good game with 14 carries for 59 yards and a 4.2 average.
The run blocking was fine.
The pass blocking was average, with Geno Smith getting sacked three times.
But I could be wrong, but the bigger issues with the passing offense was Geno Smith was a little off with his accuracy on a few throws, and the myriad disguised coverages dialed up by Bears DC Dennis Allen, made him not trust his eyes on several plays.
But whatever you view of how the Jets offensive line played in Chicago, it’s hard to argue they were inconsistent against Detroit and Green Bay.
However, getting back to my original point. My gut tells me we could see another Tennessee-kind of performance from the line this week. Remember, the Jets O-Line had their finest game of the season in the Jets’ opening-day win in Nashville.
Remember, these are the post-Myles Garrett Cleveland Browns, and not only did they trade the future Hall-of-Fame defensive end to the Rams, but lost another starting end in the summer, Alex Wright, to a season-ending Achilles injury. Now, starting DT Mason Graham, a 2025 first-round pick, is sidelined with a knee injury.
The stars are lined up for the Jets’ O-line to shine this week.
October 8, 2026
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