The NFL dropped the hammer on a New York Jets starter over the weekend.
Linebacker Quincy Williams was fined over $10,609 bucks for his late hit on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
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A Punishment Fit for the Crime
On a third and five play during the preseason opener, Hurts voluntarily chose to go out of bounds when he was suddenly smacked by Williams.
Hurts were clearly out of bounds by at least three yards and the former Murray State product gave him a hellacious helmet-to-helmet blow.
After the game head coach Robert Saleh called it “egregiously awful” and warned his young linebacker if he didn’t clean that kind of reckless stuff from his game that he won’t be playing much more moving forward.
Immediately after the hit, a fuming Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was caught on camera saying every curse word in the book:
After the fine was announced on Saturday, August 20, David Wyatt-Hupton who covers the Jets, tweeted out that the fine was “fair” and said in his humble opinion the hit “was a bit bush league.”
Still Has the Love of His Coaches
Williams during his short time with the Jets is notorious for making the hit and thinking later.
Routinely last season he would blow by his assignment and miss making the play due to a lack of awareness. Williams is a fast heat-seeking missile that has the ability to make a game-changing hit during a game, but he needs to refine his game to truly reach the next level of his development.
After executing that dirty hit during the preseason opener there was a lot of talk on social media that perhaps it is time to pull the plug on him as a starter.
However, despite that public pressure, it doesn’t appear the talented linebacker is going anywhere.
During an appearance on the Badlands podcast, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said Williams is “entrenched” as a starter next to CJ Mosley.
Rosenblatt said he would still bet a sizable amount of money that by the end of the season Williams has the second most snaps at linebacker behind only Mosley.
The player that could be looking to steal his spot in the lineup is Kwon Alexander.
The former free agent showed up in tremendous shape and has seemingly surged up the depth chart during practice. Right now he is penciled in as the third starter and some fans would like to see him ascend even higher.
At this moment in time, that chatter is nothing more than a pipedream. However he has the trust of the coaching staff and is the perfect insurance policy just in case an injury occurs above him on the depth chart.
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Jets Starter Handed Hefty Fine for ‘Bush League’ Move