Opinion: Jets DC Gregg Williams preaches accountability, but he didn’t show any after his final play call cost New York a win.
Quick! Type something like “Gregg Williams accountability” into the old Google machine.
You’ll find a few hits detailing the coordinator’s defensive philosophy, namely what a stickler he is for making sure his players take responsibility when they mess up. For example, this article, written prior to Williams’ first season with the Jets, reads:
The accountability part of Williams’ approach can be jarring. He has no problem calling out anyone, no matter their status, in front of the rest of the team. He has no issues with embarrassing a player, or forcing them to explain their mistake — or transgression — in front of their peers.
So, with all that in mind, where was Williams on Sunday after his objectively awful call cost the Jets their first win of the season?
Coordinators don’t typically speak postgame, but Williams should have after dialing up an all-out blitz on the contest’s deciding play. With 13 seconds to go in the game and the Jets leading, Williams, as he habitually does in Hail Mary situations, sent the house after Derek Carr. No help in sight, undrafted CB Lamar Jackson found himself alone with fellow rookie Henry Ruggs III. Las Vegas’ speedy wideout had no issue creating separation and hauled in the game-winning score with five seconds left on the clock. And just like that, the Jets moved to 0-12 with a 31-28 loss.
In the aftermath, Jets Twitter wondered if Williams was pro-tank or just really bad at his job. Adam Gase, gifted a day off from blame, had trouble explaining Williams’ call. Sam Darnold, who made plenty of his own mistakes Sunday, clearly wasn’t happy with the defensive play. Marcus Maye, the anti-Jamal Adams when it comes to speaking one’s mind, ripped the call repeatedly.
“We have to execute, but you have to help us out at the same time,” the safety said, among other things.
Jackson, for what it’s worth, fielded questions from reporters after the game and placed the onus on himself. “All I was thinking was don’t get beat,” Jackson said, per NorthJersey.com’s Andy Vasquez. “I don’t want to be the reason. But I was. I got beat. I’ll get better.”
Kudos to the 22-year-old for owning up to the play and not blaming anyone besides himself. But if Jackson, an ungroomed neophyte, can face the New York press, why can’t Williams?
That Maye, a well-respected, mild-mannered team captain, felt it was necessary to pan his coach’s call more than once says a lot about how the Jets as a whole must have been feeling postgame. He shouldn’t have had to answer for Williams’ mistake, nor should anyone else have had to.
Williams could have easily deviated from the usual routine, hopped on Zoom and either taken responsibility for the egregious play or explain why he regularly smashes the controller button correlating to Engage Eight. That would have been the accountable thing to do after an unprecedented decision, no?
But Williams doesn’t always practice what he preaches. Just this season, he pointed fingers at Gase’s offense while his own defense was allowing over 30 points per game. The eagerness to shift or avoid blame is an organizational culture issue at One Jets Drive, and Williams has certainly helped it fester this season despite his documented coaching philosophies.
For all the issues with Gase — and those have been written about at length — The Athletic’s Connor Hughes said that one reason the Jets have yet to fire their head coach is that he remains preferable to Williams. That says a lot when the team is 0-12, and Sunday’s postgame reactions reinforced the idea.
(Side note: should the Jets go 0-16, it will be Williams’ second time doing so. He was the defensive coordinator for the 2017 Browns.)
Williams typically speaks on Fridays, but perhaps the weekend’s airing of grievances will prompt an earlier appearance from the veteran coach. It will be interesting to see how he handles someone like Maye being so vocally opposed to his play-calling; it’s hard to see a benching being well-received by the defensive back’s peers. Of course, Maye shouldn’t be the one worrying about his job in this situation. He could still have a future in New York, after all.
Regardless of when Williams says what, his time with the Jets is surely running out. He’ll have spent two years preaching many of the same ideals he has throughout his two decades in the NFL — and failing to live up to them himself.
![Jets lament painful loss to Raiders: ‘Players work way too hard to go through this [expletive]’](https://feeds.usatodaysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/USATSI_15276399-1200x800.jpg)
