Ex-Jets LB Quincy Williams Reveals Real Reason Behind 2025 Benching

The 2025 National Football League season wasn't very kind to the New York Jets.

It started off with promise as the Jets almost took down the Aaron Rodgers-led Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, but New York lost the game late and it would go on to be a sign for the season as a whole. There were moments of upside, but struggles overall in the end.

With the Jets struggling around the trade deadline, they ended up being the biggest sellers in the league by trading away Quinnen Williams, Sauce Gardner and Michael Carter II. One guy who wasn't moved, which was a bit of a surprise, was Quincy Williams. There were trade rumors around him as well, but the Jets didn't end up trading him. Around the same time, Williams, a one-time All-Pro in 2023, shared that he was being benched by the team as well.

Williams being benched was more surprising than him not getting traded. Now, Williams is a member of the Cleveland Browns and he finally opened up about his benching and noted that it wasn't because of performance.

The former Jets star spoke out

Dec 14, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) scores a touchdown against New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams (56) during the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

"I haven’t been completely honest right now just because I didn’t want it to be a distraction during the season, but the reason I got demoted wasn’t because of performance at all, whatsoever — if you look at the game before, I actually performed very well," Williams said. "But what actually happened was is, me and a coach got into a conversation about something that he felt like he didn’t agree on.

"And he used his power and set me down, only set me down for three plays. It was just so, I didn’t get to start. ... I was playing off rage because I didn’t practice the whole entire week because he was trying to prove a point. That Monday, he felt kind of stupid because I still went and kinda balled out. That means I didn’t need you."

Well, that's certainly some new information right now. At the time, Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks spoke about the benching and noted that he didn't want to use tactics for motivation and that he believed in conversations instead to get through to players. From Williams' perspective, it sounds like the motivation for the benching was not based on his play at all, but other factors going on with the franchise from within. The Jets eventually moved on from Wilks before the season ended and Williams ended up joining the Browns in free agency with New York replacing him by signing Demario Davis,