Leonard Williams did not post a statistic in Thursday’s 21-17 loss to the Browns. Not a tackle, not a sack, not a quarterback hit.…
Leonard Williams did not post a statistic in Thursday’s 21-17 loss to the Browns. Not a tackle, not a sack, not a quarterback hit.
But Jets coach Todd Bowles defended his defensive end the day after the game.
“I thought Leonard played well,” Bowles said. “I thought they tried to double him a lot, and he got to the quarterback when the ball was out. He took the pressure off the other guys. They sent two or three guys at him almost every other play. But Leonard caused a lot of other people to make plays and that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. I’m happy with what he did.”
It has been a familiar theme over the past two seasons with Williams. He fails to put up big stats and then Bowles blames double teams or says sacks are not important and Williams is contributing in other ways.
But let’s see if the Jets are singing the same tune when it comes time to negotiate a long-term deal with Williams. He will be entering the final year of his rookie contract this offseason, a time when negotiations usually take place. At the moment, Williams has three sacks in his last 28 games.
Will the Jets overlook that lack of production because of how much he’s been double-teamed, or will they hold it over Williams’ head when they lowball him? It will be interesting.
