Avery Williamson played 17 snaps in his first game action since 2018, and that was literally the FIRST thing Evan Roberts wondered about as Williamson jumped on for his weekly hit with Joe & Evan Tuesday.
“If I was Evan pretending to be Avery,” Evan started, “I’d be saying, ‘I’ve been working my ass off to get back on the field to help this team, and I was out there for 17 snaps while Alec Ogletree was out there trying to catch Raheem Mostert.”
“Yeah, I thought I was going to play more, but at the end of the day, it’s the coach’s decision,” Williamson said. “I was glad to be out there and get a chance to get my feet wet, and I’m available man – I’m ready to get out there when coach puts me in.”
A workload that many have questioned, but one that Williamson relished.
“I knew I would be getting in, just not how much. I was just going with the flow, that’s all I can do, but I knew that whenever I got out there, I had to try to make something happen,” Williamson said. “It felt good, and I haven’t had any pain or anything in practice. 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.”
At this point, Joe Benigno jumped back on, as a technical issue kept Benigno off the air for the first few minutes of Williamson’s hit, and he came out firing.
“It’s almost like the Jets! My complex, for some reason, decided they had to work on the internet today…it’s very Jet-like,” Joe said. “I think Adam Gase is the guy trying to do the internet up here, because it’s being done so brutally it has to be him!”
“Maybe it’s just the service,” Williamson laughed, but then Joe launched into an investigation based on comments from new Jets safety Bradley McDougald.
“This to me is a major indictment on the coaching staff: McDougald comes over from Seattle, and he says ‘we’re not winning practice, we’re not practicing the way we should be practicing,’” Joe said. “That scares the hell out of me.”
Williamson agreed.
“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.”
All Joe and Evan could say to that were “wow” and “oh my God,” respectively, leading Evan to note “that’s a problem,” and wondering if that was concerning to Williamson.
“Yeah, I mean, we have to fix it; thankfully, we have another opportunity to do it,” he 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.”
Of course, Williamson was bombarded with questions from the two unabashed Jets fans, but you can listen to Williamson’s entire segment with Joe & Evan below, and tune in every Tuesday for more from the Jets linebacker!
Follow WFAN's afternoon team on Twitter: @JoeandEvan, @EvanRobertsWFAN, and @ErnieAcostaWFAN
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