Jets' Aaron Glenn Addresses Quincy Williams Surprise Benching

The 2025 National Football League trade deadline isn't the only thing that was surprising for the New York Jets ahead of their Week 10 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

On top of the deadline, former All-Pro Quincy Williams shared to the media that he also has been benched.

"My coaches told me I was underperforming, that I've been underperforming since training camp," Williams said to ESPN's Rich Cimini.

He also spoke about the news in reference to the trade deadline itself.

"I don't know," Williams said when asked if he thought he was being traded. "I came in on Monday and was the 2, so I didn't really understand what was going on," Williams said when discussing being benched after being on the trade block. "I kind of had those thoughts also, but it was one of those things where I told the Jets I wanted to be a Jet for the long term."

Jets head coach Aaron Glenn addressed the noise on Friday.

"Here's what I will say about all of that, I keep all of those conversations in-house between me and him, even though you guys know it already," Glenn said. "That's the first thing. The second thing is, we do things a certain way here and that's how we're going to operate. The third thing is, Quincy's going to be just fine. Just trust me on that. He'll be just fine."

The Jets have had a weird week

New York Jets linebacker Quincy Williams (56) gives high-fives to fans after Gang Green who their final game of the season, 32-20, Sunday January 5, 2025, in East Rutherford. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's a somewhat surprising decision.

He played in the first three games of the season for the Jets and had 1 1/2 sacks and 15 total tackles over that stretch. Then, he got hurt and was on the Injured Reserve for a while. Williams returned to game action in Week 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals and had seven tackles, including one for a loss, and two passes defended.

There's clearly more going on than just the box score on Sunday. Especially because Williams said that he was told he has been underperforming since training camp. If you look at the box score, that may not look like the case, but again, there's clearly more going on there.

The Jets will face off against the Browns on Sunday and it will be interesting to see how he's utilized and if it even is much different. Or, if this is a story that picked up more steam than it needed throughout the week.

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