Jets' Quincy Williams begins march into football future without brother Quinnen at his side

FLORHAM PARK, N.J.

Quincy Williams was on the phone with his brother Tuesday afternoon talking through the big news of the day, trying to digest the reality of what had just happened. The Jets had traded Sauce Gardner to the Colts. It was the kind of move that sent understandable ripples throughout the roster.

Then Quinnen Williams interrupted the conversation.

“The next thing you know he said, ‘Hold on y’all, I’m going to the Cowboys,’” Quincy recalled after Jets practice on Wednesday.

And just like that, the Williams Brothers were no longer teammates. Quinnen was on a flight to Dallas on Tuesday night.

After four-plus seasons together in New York, through several head coaches and contract negotiations and All-Pro honors for each of them, and, yes, lots of disappointments and losing, they were always side by side, on the field and off. They had each others’ backs in ways that mere teammates could never understand.

As the locker room was struggling to come to grips with the departures of two of their best and most popular players in the name of a future many of the current Jets likely won’t be around to see realized, Quincy Williams was dealing with the loss of something much more personal.

“He is a part of my family,” Quincy said. “My real family.”

It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, Quincy said, because he is “messing with my own issues.” He returned from the bye week on Monday to find that he had lost his starting job and been relegated to a backup on the defense. Williams at first thought it was an indication that he was going to be traded. Nope. The coaches told him that it was because of his lack of production this season.

That’s right. First the Jets took away Quincy Williams’ job. Then they took away his brother.

Heck of a week for him.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” he said of the demotion. “ [Expletive], man, I only played three games (before injuring his shoulder). The first game I had two sacks [he was credited with just one] and then I had four tackles (against Tampa Bay) and then I got injured.”

Two weeks ago, the win over the Bengals was Williams’ first game back from a shoulder injury. He was credited with a season-high seven tackles in that game.

Despite all of it, Williams said he intends to come in each morning to try to win the day and earn back his job. He was asked is he wants to remain with the Jets long-term. At first he unconvincingly said “Yes,” but then he quickly amended it.

“I want to play football,” he said. “I’m in a position right now where I want to play football.”

Even with all of that going on, Quincy did take some time to reflect on the years he spent with his kid brother as a fellow Jets player on Tuesday evening.

“It was something we dreamed about,” he said. “The Jets gave us our chance to live out our dreams. That was an amazing thing.”

So after Quinnen had broken the news but before he boarded his flight, Quincy texted him a video clip of his first tackle with the Jets after which he and Quinnen both did the same celebration dance. He also sent a picture from the first Jets practice the two of them partook in. He also gave Quinnen some big bro advice.

“It was like alright, going to a new scenery, new everything, so now it’s more like a mindset,” he said. “What’s your mindset gonna look like now? It can’t look like it was here. Alright, let’s go.”

He spoke with Gardner, too.

“Wishing them the best because they were a part of my defense,” he said. “I’m very thankful for the contributions they had. It kind of hurt but it’s one of those things where it’s a business deal. I talked to both of them. They’re both in good spirits. I like that.”

He closed his conversation with Quinnen on Tuesday with a somber, melancholy revelation of his own.

“Tomorrow,” he said, “is going to be different.”

He was right. On Wednesday morning Quinnen was in the Cowboys’ facility. He looked happier than he has been since the day he blessed himself after sneezing on the day the Jets drafted him.

“Definitely was surprised by it,” Quinnen told reporters there. “It’s unbelievable though, man, to be able to come to an organization where there’s so much history, so much talent on the team, great ownership, and great group of guys in the locker room and a great head coach and the things these guys are doing here. So I’m super happy to be a part of this.”

There is probably one thing he’ll miss about being a Jet, though.

Quincy and Quinnen Williams used to meet each morning in the hot tub at the Jets’ facility before their work days began. They would talk about their kids and their families and how they were doing mentally and physically.

“We would kind of refresh each others’ mind,” Quincy said.

On Wednesday, Quincy sat alone in that hot tub. And then his phone rang. It was Quinnen calling from Dallas where the Cowboys are on their bye week.

“I still keep the same routine, still keeping it the same,” Quincy said. “Hopefully we keep it throughout the year the same way.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.