Well, there goes the entire angle of the interview. (Consequently, there goes Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, scurrying to the corner of the room for a brief moment.)
New York Jets defenders Quincy Williams and Jermaine Johnson pushed back on a common anti-Aaron Rodgers idea while partaking in Super Bowl 59’s festivities in New Orleans, LA, on Tuesday.
When Chris Simms asked the duo what it was like dealing with the craziness and “drama” that engulfed the 2024 Jets—particularly as it concerned Rodgers’s involvement—Williams was genuinely flabbergasted or intentionally appeared to be confused so his eventual defiance would roar loudly.
“What do you mean?” Williams asked.
The big-hitting Q responded promptly to the following question from PFT’s Chris Simms:
“Last year, the drama of the Jets,” Simms began, “What was it like being there, in the locker room, with all the crap that you guys have to hear all the time because of Aaron Rodgers or the coach, or whatever?”
Once Quincy asked for clarification, Simms was somewhat happy to provide it.
“How did you deal with all the distraction of all of it, all the time?” Simms followed up. “Was it is a distraction?”
As he usually does, Quincy provided no drama-filled fodder for the media.
“It wasn’t a distraction at all,” Williams answered. “That’s why I asked you, ‘What do you mean?’ because it wasn’t a distraction at all. People are going to say what they’re going to say; it’s (instead) about the people next to you say.”
Johnson added his two cents by highlighting each individual’s character.
“The character of guys we have in that locker room, we all know that we’re thumb-pointers,” Johnson added. “We’re never going to go like this (while pointing his index finger outward): Oh, it was you.”
Not to be outdone, Florio interrupted Johnson to see if a bit of gold could be salvaged from this spot (presented by Bounty).
“Whoa, whoah, so how does it go over when your quarterback says after a game that Mike Williams should have been on the red line?” Florio asked. “Because that’s not a thumb; that’s a finger.”
In perhaps only the ultra-lighthearted way this man can, Quincy had the perfect response.
“I play defense.”
At the end of the day, the interview’s questioning was not malicious. At the same time, the common narratives surrounding Aaron Rodgers are monstrously overrated and overhyped.
Realistically, this New York Jets team has established a solid culture in the Joe Douglas regime. Robert Saleh deserves credit in this area as well.
It was the accountability area and horrid strategy—from a football coaching perspective—that doomed them. A talented roster won’t play up to its potential if it’s constantly running uphill every Sunday.
