The New York Jets have been hard to watch as of late, but today’s game is interesting for a linebacker making his return to Tennessee.
Hello again, New York Jets fans. Time for another game, this time against the Tennessee Titans. The team is 3-8 and it seems like Josh McCown will make his third consecutive start, though Todd Bowles is not making it official until today.
On its face there doesn’t seem to be much reason to watch this game. Heck, many fans now want them to lose out and get a high draft pick. That’s where we are at, and frankly that feeling is understandable.
However, the game is important for one new member of the Jets. This inside linebacker spent the first four years of his career in the middle of the Titans’ defense.
Of course we are talking about Avery Williamson.
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It has been a bit different for Williamson this year, as he has been more of a vocal leader, as he talked about on the team website:
"“I had to learn to be more vocal and learn to speak up and be a leader, so it was definitely a role reversal that I had to get used to from being in Tennessee,” he said. “I just sat back, I might say a couple of things but a lot of the older guys, the veterans, eight-year guys and nine-year guys, they were the ones speaking up. So being here is a lot different, but I’ve definitely got accustomed to being a more vocal.”"
And lead is exactly what he has done. So far, Williamson has posted 117 tackles which leads the team.
He has been a productive replacement for Demario Davis and beneficial to his fellow linebacker, Darron Lee who has looked better than ever in 2018.
Williamson said he may get some trash talking in against his ex-teammates, but he is looking forward to playing in a city that will have a rooting section for him ready to go.
It is exciting for Williamson as well it should be. They say you can’t go home again, but you can visit home. In four years you build things up quite nicely in a city. He should be recognized warmly by his old home crowd.
As far as how he will look, expect him to look good. Despite all of the adversity surrounding this team Williamson has put in max effort each and every week. For the year he has graded at 74.8 on Pro Football Focus, good for 14th in the league at linebacker.
If nothing else is worth watching, seeing this guy put in max effort against his old team will be fun.
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.