During the New York Jets’ 27-12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and defensive-line coach Aaron Whitecotton briefly stood shouting face-to-face. Williams and the Jets put that blowup behind them quickly after the game, when the former Alabama All-American said he and his coach love each other and called the exchange “a loud conversation.”
Then came Thursday, when defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was asked why New York’s best defensive lineman wasn’t on the field more.
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“That is the instinct, for sure,” Ulbrich said. “There’s like these critical moments in the game and ‘Why is Quinnen not out there?’ And you look to the side and he’s gasping for air, so just got to be judicious with it. Got to absolutely use him as much as we can and as much as we can in critical moments, for sure, but I still think there has to be a level of rotation. He plays at such a high clip and he goes so hard that sometimes more is less, or more isn’t necessarily as good, because now, you’re not seeing the speed, the explosiveness, all the special stuff from an athletic standpoint that he brings.”
“Gasping for air” was the part of Ulbrich’s press conference that got all the attention. That could be construed as meaning out of shape.
“Quinnen’s in the best shape of his life,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said on Friday when asked about “gasping for air.” “I’m not going to get into detail of what happened yesterday. Obviously, a quote, in my opinion, was taken and used against Jeff, when we all know where Jeff’s heart is. He had spent 15 minutes prior to that question showering Q with praise.
“We have our rotations. We do things the way we do them. Quinnen’s in phenomenal shape. It’s kind of bush league to take a one-liner, but it is what it is. But we all know where Jeff’s heart is, so no harm, no foul.”
Williams has played 120 snaps, or 63 percent of New York’s defensive total in 2022. He’s been on the field more than any other Jets defensive lineman.
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Saleh declined to say if the Jets needed to smooth things over with Williams.
“Whatever it was, if he did or didn’t (see the quote), it doesn’t matter,” Saleh said. “Whatever we had to address will be in-house. Quinnen also knows where Jeff’s heart is, so I doubt he took any offense from it.”
Williams appeared to have seen it, because on Thursday he retweeted a preseason video clip of Saleh saying the defensive tackle “is in the best shape of his life.”
Maybe Williams also saw the praise that Ulbrich had for him in the question before the question that produced the “gasping for air” quote.
Williams has eight tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss, four quarterback hits and one pass breakup this season. But he plays a position where the statistics don’t always equate with the quality of play.
“I think he has real game-wrecker to him,” Ulbrich said when asked about Williams’ contributions to the New York defense. “I think he’s a problem in the run game. He can be extremely disruptive there. He’s being extremely disruptive there. Even when he’s not making the play, he’s eating double-teams and he’s getting knock-back and he’s creating penetration. He’s doing an excellent job from that standpoint.
“And from a rush perspective, I really believe you have to account for him, and that’s a rare thing for an internal guy like that. Edge guys, you can chip, you can turn protection, you can do a lot of things to help. Internal guys, it’s harder. It’s why I think that sometimes there’s even more value to a really good inside rusher, and I think he has that capability.
“Got to continue to get him more opportunities, and a big part of that is winning on third down. The better he does on third down, the better we’ll do collectively on third down.”
The Jets will try to even their 2022 record at 2-2 on Sunday, when they visit the Pittsburgh Steelers. The teams will square off at noon CDT Sunday at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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