A day after being activated off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on Wednesday, Jets wide receiver Mike Williams hit the practice field.
The 29-year-old coming back from a torn ACL was limited to individual work, though. During the next couple of weeks, Williams will continue to do individual drills and walkthroughs and eventually participate in team drills.
“A grind for sure,” Williams said. “I would say this whole process has been a grind. Putting the work in early mornings, late nights, just, you know, trying to get back.
“I was just waking up every day just trusting the process. That was my main thing. Just whatever they were telling me to do, just putting the extra work in. Just trusting the process, attacking every day.”
Williams, who spent the first seven seasons with the Chargers after being selected in the first-round pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Jets with a maximum value of $15 million with incentives this offseason.
Williams was placed on the PUP list to begin training camp as he was still rehabbing from the knee injury suffered in Week 3 last season. He was on pace to have the best season of his career before the season-ending injury after registering 19 catches for 249 yards and a touchdown during the first three weeks.
“Just in terms of defenses having to balance out in terms of how they disperse their coverage where you’re not just paying attention to Garrett [Wilson], and now you’ve got to deal with Breece Hall, [Tyler] Conklin,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said of what Williams brings to Gang Green.
The plan is for Williams to follow a similar type of plan that Hall had after he tore his ACL during the 2022 campaign.
With Hall going through the same injury a year ago, Williams picked Hall’s brain on knowing what to expect as he continues to work his way back to 100%.
“I mean, when you’re going through something, you want to talk to someone who kind of been through a similar situation,” Williams said. “I mean, it’s hard to get advice for somebody who never really been through it.
“I just wanted to talk to him, ask him how his process was. See like what he was dealing with and see if I was on the right track or where I was at. Just getting the aspect of just see where he was at when he was doing his whole rehab process.”
Williams also continued his rehab work at the team facility in the 40 days between mandatory minicamp and the start of training camp when most players usually go on vacations and relax.
The Jets will open the season on the road against the 49ers on Monday Night Football on Sept 9. With the veteran wide receiver being ahead of schedule, and with the season opener still a month away, Williams could be ready for Week 1.
Williams’ game has been predicated on going up over defenders and bringing down 50/50 passes from quarterbacks. He will bring that element of his game to the Jets, which needed another dynamic receiver opposite Wilson, who is a detailed route runner.
Once he is 100%, Williams is expected to be the Jets’ No. 2 receiver, opposite Wilson, with Allen Lazard, Xavier Gipson and Malachi Corley also factoring into the offense.
“I think it’s I’m different,” Williams said about his skill set compared to the other receivers. “Garrett route runner, explosive also can run every route tree in the route book. Zay [Gipson], fast explosive, Allen, big physical receiver.
“I feel like we got a different, you know, different group of guys in our room, and I feel like we complement each other very well.”
With the additions offensively, and Aaron Rodgers returning from a season-ending Achilles tear, expectations are high for the Jets. In addition to adding Williams, the Jets also signed offensive linemen Tyron Smith and John Simpson. They also acquired Morgan Moses in a trade with the Ravens.
During the next month, Williams will need to gain chemistry with Rodgers after only being able to learn the Jets offense rehabbing off the field.
“I’m going to just react to Aaron,” Williams said. “I’m going to let Aaron be Aaron. Aaron has been doing this for a long time with a lot of different receivers. So, I’m going to just react to him. I feel like we going to get on the same page quick.
“So I mean, I feel like it won’t be a hard transition. I feel like we are going to make each other job easy.”
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