Williams brothers beat 1 of grandmaâs favorite QBs
When New York upended the previously unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles 20-14 on Sunday, the Williams brothers from Wenonah High School came up with takeaways for the Jets.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams intercepted a pass at the New York 48-yard line in the second quarter with the Jets trailing 7-3. Later in the period, linebacker Quincy Williams recovered a fumble at the New York 49 caused by former Theodore High School standout C.J. Mosley with the Jets trailing 14-6.
“It’s always great, especially playing on the same field as my brother,” Quincy Williams said, “and then for us to have the same stat, it’s great. Actually, my grandma’s here. Last time, my grandma was here, we recorded a sack together, too, so that’s kind of crazy.
“We’re going to have to get my grandma to some more games.”
Quinnen Williams said the brothers have to play well when their grandmother comes to their game or they’ll hear about.
“She’s going to critique us,” Quinnen Williams said, “so I feel like we definitely always play well when she comes because she critiques us our hardest critique ever. I can’t wait to see what she says. I’m pretty sure she got some sort of criticism for us, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to be happy about the way we played today, even though we got a win against one of her favorite quarterbacks Jalen Hurts.”
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Quincy Williams led the Jets with 12 tackles. Mosley was next with nine, and Bryce Huff from St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile recorded 1.5 sacks for New York. For Philadelphia, linebacker Nicholas Morrow from Huntsville High School topped the tackle chart with six. West Limestone High School’s Reed Blankenship and Pleasant Grove High School’s James Bradberry made five tackles apiece for the Eagles.
Quinnen Williams’ interception was the first of his NFL career. It came on a short flip from Hurts to Dallas Goedert, who lost the football when linebacker Jermaine Johnson collided with the tight end. The football flew out of Goedert’s hands straight to Williams, who caught it on the run and wheeled around for the goal line.
“Coach always gets onto us about running to the ball,” Quinnen Williams said, “so I seen it was a screen and I just ran to the ball. I think Jermaine Johnson made an unbelievable coverage play today and an unbelievable sack, so he’s playing lights out. … And I think he just knocked the ball out, and it fell right into my hands.
“When I got it, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to score.’ I tried to turn on the jets. I know that Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins always be competing in, like, speed, so I tried to get my 22 miles per hour in, too, but I couldn’t get a chance to pick it up.”
Williams had a 7-yard interception return.
“I was thinking, ‘Get him to the house. Block anybody. Just take off running,’” Quincy Williams said. “If I was tired, I was going to get there. Really, I was just happy.
“And then he dropped the ball, and I said, ‘Oh, I got to get that ball for him.’”
The Williams brothers took different paths to the Jets.
Quinnen Williams joined the team as the third selection in the 2019 NFL Draft after winning the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman at Alabama for the 2018 season.
Quincy Williams joined the Jets as a waiver claim on Sept. 1, 2021. He had entered the league with the Jacksonville Jaguars from Murray State as the 98th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. In each of his first two seasons with Jacksonville, he underwent surgery after a training-camp injury.
Quincy Williams went right into New York’s lineup and recorded more than 100 tackles in each of his first two seasons with the Jets.
Quinnen Williams earned first-team All-Pro recognition last season, when he finished seventh in the voting for the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award.
During the offseason, the Jets signed the Williams brothers to contract extensions. Quinnen Williams signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension in July. Quincy Williams signed a three-year, $18 million contract extension in March.
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The Jets are in their bye week. They return to the field against the New York Giants on Oct. 29.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.