Former Jets Defensive End Leonard Williams on Facing Old Team: 'Still Felt Like They Were an Opponent'

The Jets traded Leonard Williams two weeks ago and the defensive end faced his old team on Sunday

On Sunday, Leonard Williams squared up against the New York Jets team that traded him just two weeks earlier. For Williams, it was a frustrating afternoon as he saw old team beat his new employer, the New York Giants 34-27. 

Even as his new team lost to his old team on Sunday, it wasn’t a bad afternoon for Williams on a personal level. For a second straight game, he had three tackles for the Giants but he was incredibly disruptive throughout the game. Williams registered four quarterback hits, a team high. 

It was emotional, he admits, even as he kept everything in check going against the team that made him a first round pick in 2015. 

“There wasn’t too much talking going on when we were on the field. It still felt like they were an opponent, that’s what they were,” Williams said. “Obviously, there were some familiar faces on the other side, but that didn’t stop either one of us from going at it.” 

His former teammates, stationed on the other sideline, had a good albeit inconsistent afternoon. While penalties killed the Jets defense and allowed the Giants to sustain drives, they did limit Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley to just a single rushing yard on 13 carries. 

In addition, Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked six times, including a key fourth quarter sack by Steve McLendon that helped kill the game for the Jets. 

The Giants allowed the Jets, down 27-21 late in the third quarter, to put together three scoring drives from the third quarter into the fourth quarter to close out the game.  

The defense held firm and didn’t break. This led Williams to say “they did their part, we didn’t do ours.” 

The positive is that Williams has shown well now in two games for the Giants as he’s benefitting from the switch to playing outside in the 4-3. He brought consistent pressure on Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who was a teammate of his not only with the Jets last year but also in college at USC. 

Having gone up again Darnold in practice for the last several years at both USC and in the NFL, Williams has never been allowed to hit the quarterback. He got his chance on Sunday and while there were no sacks, he still delivered a couple of big hits. 

“I hit him one time and he got rid of the ball and as I had him wrapped up he still had the ball in his hand and he got rid of it and I was like, ‘Damn, Sam,’ and he just started laughing and he was like ‘F- you,’ or something like that,” Williams said with a laugh. “It was funny. Other than that, there wasn’t much talking going on during the game.”