The New York Jets traded wide receiver Mike Williams to the Pittsburgh Steelers and it paid immediate dividends in Week 10.
Williams scored the 32-yard game-winning touchdown in his Steelers debut against the Washington Commanders. After the game, the veteran wide receiver took to social media to share his first thoughts on his experience playing for Pittsburgh.
“Thankful 🤟🏾🐍 #WholeLotta #WeBack #RedLine,” Williams wrote on Instagram.
The hashtag “Red Line” was in reference to his clash with Aaron Rodgers when they were Jets teammates. In the Week 6 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, Rodgers threw a pass that was intended for Williams in the fourth quarter that was intercepted.
After that game, Rodgers revealed that Williams ran the wrong route and should have stayed on the red line. The red line isn’t visible on an actual football field, but teams use it in practice to reinforce to receivers to stay wide.
Red Line Ended up Kicking Williams out of Jets Land
Williams wasn’t being used a ton in general during his brief tenure with the Jets. However, after the red line incident, Rodgers completely phased the veteran receiver out of the lineup.
In Ian O’Connor’s book, “Out of the Darkness The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers” he described Rodgers’ infamous “island.”
It’s a fictional place that Rodgers would send people to who had slighted him in some way or another. This location included members of his family, close friends, and even teammates and coaches that he played or worked with.
It seemed like Williams was sent to this place after two miscommunications that resulted in Rodgers’ interceptions against the Minnesota Vikings and the aforementioned game against the Bills.
Now Williams gets the last laugh. He scored a touchdown during his debut with the Steelers while the Jets as a team couldn’t score a touchdown with any of their players.
The green and white are 3-7 unlikely to make the playoffs. While Williams is all of a sudden a key cog on a 7-2 Steelers squad that is headed to the postseason and maybe beyond.
Jets Struggle to Fill the Void Behind Door No. 3
When the Jets traded away Williams, it left a massive void at the third wide receiver spot. Gang Green was covered with Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson as the top two pass catchers, but who would be the next guy to step up?
Fans are still wondering about that after the game. The Jets offense struggled to finish off drives and Rodgers only threw for only 151 passing yards.
That didn’t leave much meat on the bone to go around. The two leading receivers not named Adams and Wilson were running back Breece Hall and tight end Jeremy Ruckert. Hall finished with 31 yards and Ruckert finished with 17 yards.
Much maligned rookie, Malachi Corley, did get involved on a third down conversion with a reception for two yards. The most likely candidate is Corley because of his draft pedigree and the available reps with Williams elsewhere. It didn’t show in the Cardinals game, but there are still seven contests remaining for him to strut his stuff.
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Mike Williams Takes Shot at Aaron Rodgers After Steelers Debut