Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Jets recently traded linebacker Avery Williamson and a 2022 seventh-round pick to the Steelers for a 2022 fifth-round pick.
The Jets recently traded linebacker Avery Williamson and a 2022 seventh-round pick to the Steelers for a 2022 fifth-round pick.
With Williamson departing a winless team for an undefeated team, Jets Wire’s Gary Phillips joined the Tribune-Review’s Tim Benz on the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast on Tuesday. The two discussed how Williamson will fit in with Pittsburgh, the state of the Jets and what happened during Le’Veon Bell’s time in New York.
Take a listen!
Adam Gase is not quitting on the Jets after their 0-8 start to 2020.
[jwplayer AhXezIHA]
The Jets have been nothing short of a disaster in 2020, but Adam Gase is refusing to quit on his team at the midway point of the season.
New York dropped its eighth straight contest on Sunday, as Patrick Mahomes carved up Gregg Williams’ defense and the Jets failed to find the end zone in a 35-9 defeat. New York has seldom been competitive so far this season and has already started looking ahead, shipping Avery Williamson to the Steelers in exchange for future draft picks on Sunday night. Thi followed traded involving Steve McLendon and Jordan Willis.
Gase remains focused on the task at hand, though, and is not prepared to give up on what has become a lost season.
“I never look at waving the white flag, it’s not in my DNA,” Gase said, per SNY. “This is our football team. When things like this happen, guys aren’t ever going to be shocked by this. We’re in a profession where we gotta win games. When we don’t, things change and younger guys get opportunities to play. That’s what the NFL is. This is not unique.
“We haven’t won a game yet. And when we have guys that other teams see value in and we’re able to get draft picks… It’s not always ideal, but that’s the NFL… That’s kind of what happens when you don’t win.”
Williamson might not be the last Jet dealt before Tuesday’s trade deadline. Regardless of the personnel he has available or the front office making moves to better the organization moving forward, though, Gase’s number one priority remains getting his team ready to play on Sundays.
Next up on the Jets’ schedule is the Patriots, who have also struggled mightily in 2020, on Monday Night Football in Week 9. Neither team is going anywhere this season, but Gase will do everything in his power to position his team to compete throughout the week — which is all he can do at this point while the front office works on positioning New York for future success.
The Steelers made Avery Williamson the luckiest player in the NFL.
When you get traded from the NFL’s lone winless team to the only undefeated team, you will get there any way you can.
The Jets traded Avery Williamson to the Steelers on Sunday and the linebacker had some fun with his situation on Instagram.
Check out Williamson in the rain with his thumb in the air looking to catch a ride from someone to Pittsburgh.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHE4pOhsDiN/
Talk about a lucky guy.
The New York Jets saved around $1.8 million by trading Avery Williamson to Steelers on Sunday night.
The Jets saved some money by sending Avery Williamson packing on Sunday night.
New York dealt the middle linebacker to the Steelers. In doing so, it saved around $1.8 million in salary and roster bonuses, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
With the salary cap set to drop, teams like the Jets, who are clearly out of the playoff race, could be looking to offload salary. This would allow them to roll over cap space for the 2021 season.
New York agreed to trade Williamson and a 2022 seventh-rounder in exchange for Pittsburgh’s 2022 fifth-rounder. Williamson had been a name attached to the Steelers ever since Devin Bush went down with a season-ending ACL injury.
This trade made sense for both sides, as the Jets were able to shed some cap and gain an asset. The Steelers, meanwhile, attained a much-needed depth piece at inside linebacker.
Williamson may not be the only Jets player who has a new home by Tuesday’s deadline. He joins Steve McLendon and Jordan Willis as the other two defenders that Joe Douglas has sent packing already.
The Jets are sending LB Avery Williamson to the Steelers.
Avery Williamson is going from 0-8 to 7-0.
The winless Jets are sending their middle linebacker to the undefeated Steelers, according to multiple reports. The Jets are also trading a 2022 seventh-round pick to Pittsburgh and getting a 2022 fifth-round pick in exchange, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The trade follows Pittsburgh’s loss of Devin Bush, who recently suffered a torn ACL. Robert Spillane was filling in for Bush — he had a pick-six off of Lamar Jackson on Sunday — but the Steelers clearly wanted more depth up the middle.
Williamson will provide just that. The 28-year-old returned this season from an ACL injury of his own. So far he has played in seven games, recording 59 tackles, one interception and three passes defended.
Williamson began his career in Tennessee in 2014 before making his way to the Jets as a free agent in time for the 2018 season. All in all, he played in 23 games for New York.
Now the defender will have a chance to compete for a Super Bowl after spending the first half of the season with the NFL’s worst team.
Avery Williamson doesn’t think any player is safe on the Jets after Le’Veon Bell’s release.
After Le’Veon Bell’s release on Tuesday, Avery Williamson understands that no player’s job is secure.
Williamson was asked by reporters on Thursday what kind of message Bell’s release sends to the rest of the Jets. Williamson said that “no one is safe” after Bell was let go, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
Adam Gase was asked about Williamson’s comment on Friday. Per SNY, the head coach responded by saying, “If that’s what he thinks, that’s what it is. He’s just being honest with you.”
Gase went on to say that every day should be a competition for players and coaches and that they’re all fighting for their jobs. However, Bell’s sudden release left a lot of Jets players surprised.
Bell left after expressing frustrations with his lack of involvement in the offense, and Gase — his fault or not — has a reputation for clashing with players. That has been a theme since his days in Miami.
With an 0-5 record to start the season, it’s hard to see how cutting Bell makes the Jets more competitive. Frank Gore and La’Mical Perine will lead the backfield now, starting with New York’s Week 6 matchup against the Dolphins.
Bell, meanwhile, has joined the Super Bowl reigning champs, the Chiefs, and is in pursuit of his own ring.
The Jets are going to have to wait another week for their first win of 2020.
The Jets are going to have to wait another week for their first win of 2020. Or maybe until 2021. Who knows at this point?
New York turned in yet another uninspired performance against the Cardinals in Week 5, failing to muster any sort of offense or contain Kyler Murray in a 30-10 loss. The Jets entered Week 5 behind the eight ball without Sam Darnold under center, but their unmotivated and lackluster performance on both sides of the ball against Arizona indicates a win would have been tough to come by regardless of who was playing quarterback.
With yet another loss in the books, it’s on to Miami for the Jets in Week 6. The Dolphins are off to a middling start of their own in 2020, but at least Brian Flores’ team comes to play on a weekly basis. The same cannot be said for Adam Gase’s squad.
MLB Avery Williamson: New York’s defense did not do much to slow down Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense, but Williamson did his part by intercepting a deflected Murray pass and returning it inside Arizona’s 20. He also added eight tackles on the afternoon.
WR Jamison Crowder: Crowder accounted for more than half of the Jets’ receiving yards, catching eight passes for 116 yards and a touchdown in the third quarter. New York’s passing attack is far from dynamic, but it is drastically improved when Crowder is healthy and on the field.
-Give Joe Flacco credit. The Jets didn’t do enough to beat the Cardinals, but Flacco was not the reason why New York fell short. Expecting a 35-year-old coming off neck surgery to light it up in his first start of the season is simply unrealistic.
-You have to be able to convert in the red zone if you want to win games. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise the Jets are winless in 2020. New York’s red zone offense is consistently putrid and that rang true once again in Week 5. Jamison Crowder found paydirt in the third quarter, but not being able to put six on the board after Avery Williamson’s interception and return deep into Cardinals territory is unacceptable.
-Four third-down conversions through four quarters? That’s not going to get the job done under any circumstance.
-Gase has done a lot of things wrong this season, but going for it on fourth-and-one in the red zone in the second quarter wasn’t one of them. Field goals aren’t going to beat the Cardinals…
-With that being said, why not hand it to Le’Veon Bell or Frank Gore instead of Trevon Wesco on third-and-one? Any running back would have been able to hit the wide-open hole New York’s offensive line created. A tight end doesn’t have that kind of cut back ability or awareness.
-2020 has been the definition of a nightmare season for Chris Herndon. He was supposedly a star in training camp but has looked more the part of a player who shouldn’t have even made the 53-man roster in the first place.
-Gregg Williams’ undisciplined defense reared its ugly head yet again when the Cardinals went for it on fourth-and-one in their own territory in the third quarter. Both Marcus Maye and Jordan Jenkins bit hard on the play-action fake, resulting in a wide-open tight end in the flat for Kyler Murray. That play could have changed the game and swung momentum in the Jets’ favor. Instead, Arizona powered forward and scored a touchdown.
-Gase now has more career losses by double digits than he does career wins. How exactly is he still employed as a head coach in the NFL?
Adam Gase has intensified his practices after the Jets 0-4 start.
Adam Gase decided to spice things up a bit in practice this week.
In preparation for this week’s scheduled game against the Arizona Cardinals, Gase had the team doing competitive drills right from the start of practice. With the Jets 0-4, Gase knows something needs to change.
“We get the blood flowing a little quicker than normal,” Gase said, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “Not recommended by sports science, but at this point, we’re going to do everything we can.”
The Jets have also done more walkthroughs and have expanded their meetings. Gase said that the players have come forward with ways to improve practice, which he called “outstanding communication.”
While Gase is praising his players for more insight on better ways to prepare for a game, he also said that “everyone has to put forth more effort” in order to get out of this 0-4 hole.
In the past couple of weeks, Jets players have publicly stated that the team’s practices were not intense enough. Both Avery Williamson and Bradley McDougald stated that the practices started off slow.
At the end of the day, a team is as only as good as it practices. Clearly, the Jets weren’t practicing well the first four weeks and that showed in their four losses. We’ll see if a change leads to different game results.
Jets head coach Adam Gase responded to comments about New York’s practice habits on Wednesday.
Adam Gase is not in agreement with the recent criticisms that have been offered about the Jets’ practice habits.
Following New York’s 31-13 loss to the 49ers in Week 2, Bradley McDougald said the Jets have been struggling in practice. Avery Williamson reciprocated those thoughts while appearing on his weekly WFAN guest spot with Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts on Tuesday.
“I definitely can agree with [McDougald] at times; sometimes in practice, guys are missing tackles or we’re not doing things right, we haven’t been as crisp as we should be at times,” Williamson said. “Or starting fast – he’s definitely correct that at times, we don’t start fast at practice. We haven’t the last two weeks, but that’s something we have to fix ourselves, because you can’t come out sluggish in games and expect to win. It’s tough to recover when a team you’re playing is that good.”
On Wednesday, Gase told reporters Williamson texted him to clarify his comments and that he felt they were not being reported the way he meant them, per the New York Post’s Brian Costello. Gase responded to the comments, saying that players can voice their concerns during the week if they have any.
Jets linebacker Avery Williamson voiced his concerns with New York’s poor practice habits while appearing on WFAN Tuesday.
Winning habits on the practice field typically translate to victories on Sundays. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the Jets are off to an 0-2 start in 2020.
Following New York’s 31-13 loss to the 49ers in Week 2, Bradley McDougald said the Jets have been struggling in practice. Avery Williamson reciprocated those thoughts while appearing on his weekly WFAN guest spot with Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts on Tuesday, voicing his concerns with New York’s practice habits.
“I definitely can agree with him at times; sometimes in practice, guys are missing tackles or we’re not doing things right, we haven’t been as crisp as we should be at times,” Williamson said. “Or starting fast – he’s definitely correct that at times, we don’t start fast at practice. We haven’t the last two weeks, but that’s something we have to fix ourselves, because you can’t come out sluggish in games and expect to win. It’s tough to recover when a team you’re playing is that good.”
The struggles the Jets are experiencing in practice are a poor reflection on Adam Gase and his coaching staff. Yes, the players have to take the practice seriously, but it is on the head coach and his staff to have a plan in place to avoid slow starts and bad habits that carry over into games.
New York is off to a poor start this season, but there is still time for the Jets to fix things and put a winning product on the field as they did at the end of last season. Digging out of an 0-2 hole is tough, but it’s not an impossible task — even for a team that has looked out of sorts.
“We have to fix it. Thankfully, we have another opportunity to do it,” Williamson said. “I’m just going to go out there and make sure I have positive energy and hold myself and my teammates accountable to make sure we are better in practice. You have to make sure everyone is doing their part, because we have to win some games, and it starts on Wednesdays.”
As for Williamson himself, he’s focused on settling in and returning to form after taking the field in a regular season game for the first time since 2018. The veteran linebacker played sparingly in his season debut against San Francisco but is eager to turn in a standout performance against the Colts in Week 3 now that the butterflies have subsided.
“It felt good and I haven’t had any pain or anything in practice,” Williamson said. “I definitely was nervous, I think I woke up at like 5 a.m. Sunday morning because I was so amped up, but it felt good to get back out on the field. I was a little wide-eyed, but I got a lot more comfortable as the game went on. It’s like getting your football senses back. I’m ready to go crazy this week.”
