Getty New York Jets DT Quinnen Williams tosses Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill in Week 5.
The late-March quote from Miami Dolphins star acquisition Tyreek Hill was: “Who? The Jets?”
A simple question, but one Hill is unlikely to ever ask again after his words acted as the rallying cry behind a 40-17 statement win for the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Oh, by the way, it didn’t hurt that Hill was also the recipient of a thundering stiff arm from defensive tackle Quinnen Williams after a strip-sack fumble — well, it might have hurt a little.
Quinnen Williams threw Tyreek Hill back to Miami t.co/eS2cBfUfTx
After the game, D-lineman John Franklin-Myers had some strong words for Hill and what this victory meant for the Jets’ defense.
John Franklin-Myers Calls ‘Jets Who’ Comment Disrespectful
According to NYJ reporter Rich Cimini during a postgame article with ESPN, “JFM” was happy to rehash the “Jets who” comments from Hill.
“We just played with a chip on our shoulder after that whole, ‘Jets, who?’ thing,” Cimini relayed a quote from Franklin-Myers. “I think that rubbed everybody the wrong way.”
The pass rusher continued: “That fired me up. I don’t get fired up about a lot of stuff and I don’t care about people talking, but that’s disrespectful and I don’t like disrespect. You shouldn’t do that no matter who you are.”
The original quote came after Hill chose Miami over New York via trade, a decision that he later explained was due to the “state taxes” and “great weather” more than anything else.
Franklin-Myers didn’t care for the new excuse, voicing that the damage was already done. “The message is still the message,” he told Cimini. “You can laugh and shrug it off, but I didn’t like that, and the team didn’t like that.”
The veteran beat reporter noted that the Jets defense “celebrated” the Williams stiff-arm turnover as the defining moment of the revenge game over Hill and the Fins. “Obviously, you want to see a big man get in the end zone and do a little dance, but a close second is launching another human being into the ground,” defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins joked to Cimini. “That’s a very close second.”
“He just ran right into Quinnen’s arms and Quinnen extended his arm and… Tyreek was gone,” Rankins narrated.
The humble rising star, Williams, decided to let his teammates do the talking after the game.
“Tyreek’s an amazing player, bro,” Williams voiced during his postgame interview, “super fast… [his] speed is ridiculous.” As for the stiff arm, he laughed when Cimini compared him to running back Derrick Henry, crediting Alabama head coach Nick Saban for teaching them both that move.
Jets D-Line Sparks Dominant Fourth Quarter
Jets X-Factor film expert Michael Nania was all over it last night, posting statistics on Twitter as he rewatched the game. According to Nania, it was a record-breaking night for defensive end Carl Lawson and this pass-rushing unit.
“Had to double-take to make sure this was right,” he tweeted. “Carl Lawson had SEVEN (yes, 7) quarterback hits today. It’s a Jets franchise record since the stat was first tracked in 2006. Nobody had even reached 6 QB hits in a game for the Jets before. Also, this fantastic accomplishment by Lawson shouldn’t overshadow what John Franklin-Myers did. JFM had 5 QB hits, which ties the old Jets record which was shared by Muhammad Wilkerson (done 2x) and Leonard Williams.”
Both Lawson and JFM were all over a Dolphins offensive line that was missing left tackle Terron Armstead for most of the game. They only finished with two sacks (plus the pressure-forced safety) — Lawson had one, JFM and Williams combined for the other — but a staggering 16 QB hits kept quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson off balance the entire afternoon.
“It’s extremely important [to win division games],” Lawson stated to team reporter Ethan Greenberg, “we’ve put the work in and this is the fruits of our labor.”
He continued later, commenting on the 21-point fourth quarter: “It just says we’re fighters and it’s a credit to our work. We just gotta keep working and it’s all about us.”
Williams shared a similar sentiment: “When we communicate and we execute at a high level… we can be a serious defense. A defense that we know we can be.”