Jets fans may be running out of patience with Leonard Williams, but his position coach had nothing but praise for him Tuesday.
Defensive line coach Andre Carter said Williams is having a strong season despite having no sacks.
“I’m proud of Leo,” Carter said. “Leo had come in and we talked about his style of play and how he wanted to continue to get better. He’s on the upside. I’m so proud of him and how he’s developed his game. Granted, the sacks aren’t there. If you look from overall stats, he’s affected the quarterback 10 times in the past three games.”
Carter said he judges his players on getting 6-8 “factors” a game. Those include a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, a quarterback pressure, affecting the pocket and making a tackle downfield. He said Williams has done well in those categories.
“Overall, when I look at him as far as his effectiveness, as far as affecting the pocket, his overall technique, it’s superb,” Carter said. “I know the saying is sacks come in bunches. He’ll have a time when he’ll have that big game and he’ll have that big game where he’ll make big plays.”
Williams, a first-round pick in 2015, has 17 career sacks. He has 10 tackles and three quarterback hits this season, according to pro-football-reference.com.
Receiver Robby Anderson has just 10 catches for 115 yards and has not scored a touchdown yet this season. After Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, he sounded a bit frustrated. His position coach said that is understandable.
“I’m sure Michael Jordan got frustrated too when he didn’t get the ball. You know what I’m saying?” wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson said. “Robby’s a hell of a competitor. You guys know that. Robby wants to win. He wants to win. … Throughout his career he hasn’t won much. That’s probably why we’re here now, a new coaching staff.”
Jefferson clarified that he was not taking a shot at the former coaching staff, just pointing out that a coaching change indicates a lot of losing in the NFL.
Defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson said CB Trumaine Johnson has handled his benching like a pro. Johnson, the team’s $72.5 million cornerback, has come off the bench the past two weeks and barely played.
“Trumaine is coming to work and he’s trying to do his job. He’s practicing harder. He’s playing,” Wilson said. “He’s trying to be detailed about his work. He’s just trying to wait for his opportunity. He played a little bit last week. In the life of a DB or a corner, you never know. It’s always next man up. He’s getting ready. He’s preparing the same way he’s prepared before and if he’s ready he’ll be ready to play.”