Jets linebacker Quincy Williams headed to injured reserve with shoulder injury
New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams tackles Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving on Sept. 21, 2025. Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara
The Jets will be without one of their top defensive playmakers and an important special teams player for at least the next four games.
Linebacker Quincy Williams was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. He left Sunday’s loss in Tampa Bay in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and never returned. An All-Pro two seasons ago, Williams will now miss a minimum of four games.
The Jets suffered another loss at the same position in Tampa. Linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball, the Jets' special teams captain, also was put on injured reserve. He injured his hamstring Sunday but played through it and finished the game.
McCrary-Ball was the Jets’ No. 3 linebacker and filled in for Williams after he got injured Sunday.
Needing bodies at linebacker, the Jets signed Mark Robinson off the Patriots practice squad and Ben Niemann to the practice squad. Robinson joins starter Jamien Sherwood and rookie Kiko Mauigoa as the only linebackers on the Jets’ active roster. They have three on the practice squad: Jackson Sirman, Mykal Walker and now Niemann.
Robinson has been used more on special teams than defense since being drafted in the seventh round by the Steelers in 2022. He has 48 tackles in 41 career games.
Niemann has bounced around the NFL. The Jets are his fifth team and fourth in four years. Niemann spent four seasons for Kansas City and one with Arizona, Denver and Detroit, where Aaron Glenn was the defensive coordinator. Niemann has 264 tackles in 103 games.
The Jets also made a trade Tuesday, adding a young cornerback with upside to their defense. They acquired Jarvis Brownlee and a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Titans for a sixth-rounder next year.
Brownlee appeared in 19 games, including 16 starts, since Tennessee drafted him in the fifth round in 2024. Brownlee missed last week’s game with an ankle injury.
He had 92 tackles, 10 passes defended and an interception for the Titans. Brownlee reunites with Jets defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Chris Harris, who held a similar title with the Titans last year.
Losing Williams for the next month is a big blow for the Jets (0-3), and a defense that’s already struggling. Signed by the Jets in 2021, Williams has recorded at least 106 tackles every year he’s played for them.
Williams was off to a solid start this season. He is fourth on the Jets in tackles (15), second in sacks (1.5) and tied for first with three quarterback hits.
McCrary-Ball has played 75 special teams snaps, and 77 on defense, and registered 17 tackles.
To make room for Niemann, the Jets released offensive lineman Liam Fornadel from the practice squad.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
