Patriot Killa Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 https://www.google.com/amp/www.nj.com/articles/19831483/leonard_williams_tired_of_so-called_fans_criticizi.amp?client=safari FLORHAM PARK -- It took a year for Leonard Williams to go from highly-touted draft prospect, to arguably the best player on the Jets ' roster. The No. 6 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Williams has blossomed his second season in the league. Through 13 games, he has 53 tackles, seven sacks and two forced fumbles. Despite playing on a line that also includes Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson, Williams has had no issue emerging from their shadow to make a name for himself. Earlier this week, Williams caught up with NJ Advance Media. He talked a bit about his individual progression, the concerns regarding his teammates effort, and more: Statistically, it looks like you're having a pretty good season. How would you grade yourself 13 games in? WILLIAMS: I think I definitely improved my game from last year. I'm proud of how I've been playing so far. There are definitely times when I see myself on film, and I'm a hard critic on myself, where I see things I do and I just get mad. Maybe I shouldn't have done this, or this. Personally, I know a lot of things I have to work on. But overall I know I've improved this year. I have more sacks, which I wanted. I want more, obviously, though. Team wise, it hasn't been so great. What are your thoughts when you hear people say this team doesn't have effort? They're not trying? HUGHES: It's hard to hear it. I have been with this team since organized team activities. We've been grinding for months. We have been through camp, a lot together. We've had a lot of ups and downs. We had a great season last year. Now that we're not, people are quick to turn on us. It's hard to hear from fans, or so-called fans. They say they love the Jets and all that stuff, but as soon as we have a little bad season, everybody talks down. It's hard to hear. Those guys aren't in here with us. They don't see the work we put in. They don't see guys half-banged-up at this time of the season. No one is over 70 percent healthy. It's hard for me to hear people from the outside, not really knowing, but they think they do know what's on. How close is this team to turning it around? WILLIAMS: There are definitely a lot of things we have to work on. I'm not going to lie about that. I think the one thing I do know is we have is guys not quitting. Even though people say it on the outside, even though people say we aren't giving it our all, we are. This past weekend, we played a tight game against the 49ers, and we showed we have fight. We wanted to finish the game. Guys didn't give up on each other. As far as I know, everybody loves Todd Bowles. Everybody loves playing with each other. If we work on a few things, we'll turn this around. This offseason, you talked a lot about how you wanted more sacks. You've got seven right now. Do you see the opportunity to get even more? WILLIAMS: Even if I do get a sack in a game, I still see times when I have someone beat but didn't finish my move. Maybe I didn't get on a specific edge where I know if I did, it could have been another sack. Even though I have improved my numbers, I know I can keep growing. Not a lot of fans can see it. They just see the stats. But when I'm watching film, I can definitely see I can make a few more plays than I am. I have a lot [of sacks] this year. It's a pretty good number for myself. I have improved from last year. But I always want more. When I watch film, I can see where I have those opportunities to get more. Entering the draft in 2015, you were viewed as the best defensive player. Many pegged you as a top-2 pick. Do you hold a chip on your shoulder that you slipped to No. 6? HUGHES: I still went really high. I was proud being drafted as high as I was, and more proud the Jets took me considering they already had two, three great guys -- Damon Harris, Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson. I'm glad they gave me the opportunity here. More than anything, I wanted to prove these guys right. Not other guys wrong. I wanted these guys to know they made the right pick. Last year you were a rookie. This year people are saying you're one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL. Crazy to see how far you've come in such a short period of time? HUGHES: That's really hard to hear. It feels good to hear. I wouldn't be expecting that already. I'm only 22 years old. It feels good to be mentioned with guys that have been doing it for a long time. Hopefully, I can be doing it for a long time as well. My focus is just to keep working, keep growing. I love and appreciate all the support saying that stuff. Luckily I do a good job not reading it, so it doesn't get to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crusher Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 This kid is a good kid and is going to be a great player. Hopefully one day we can surround him with other players who are not quitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerfish Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Get the taint away fro him before he gets infected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot Killa Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 Seven sacks with the admittance that he could of had even more...he really could have double digits sacks already and there's 3 weeks left. He's obviously sh*tting on the rest of the defensive line-man. Wilk can barely post 10 besides last year and Sheldon has never even gotten close besides 2014 with 8...he has 1.5 this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepPep Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Ahh, the naivete of youth. I miss those days. I think its pretty obvious that offense and the young guys (across the board) have not quit. But boy, I sure saw a lot of quit from some of the defensive veteran on this team. It's hard to argue against it (despite what the player say) when you see it right in front of your eyes. Revis was supposed to be the leader (one who leads by example no less) and one of the best players on the team, period. That's why he got paid the big bucks. He has not only been abysmal this season but gave up on effort WAY too early in the season. Wilk showed lack of effort as well (the OTHER leader and 'best player on the team' who gets paid the big bucks). He has recently ramped it up. But there were a number of games where he just gave up on plays. It's good that Leo has this attitude. Hopefully the Jets get rid of Revis and Wilk ha a bounce back season next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot Killa Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 4 minutes ago, PepPep said: Ahh, the naivete of youth. I miss those days. I think its pretty obvious that offense and the young guys (across the board) have not quit. But boy, I sure saw a lot of quit from some of the defensive veteran on this team. It's hard to argue against it (despite what the player say) when you see it right in front of your eyes. Revis was supposed to be the leader (one who leads by example no less) and one of the best players on the team, period. That's why he got paid the big bucks. He has not only been abysmal this season but gave up on effort WAY too early in the season. Wilk showed lack of effort as well (the OTHER leader and 'best player on the team' who gets paid the big bucks). He has recently ramped it up. But there were a number of games where he just gave up on plays. It's good that Leo has this attitude. Hopefully the Jets get rid of Revis and Wilk ha a bounce back season next year. Revis has a sh*t attitude 24/7. Back in 09' I thought he was a humble guy..wow how he has changed over the years. Guy is a complete dick and not a leader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetBlue Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 2 hours ago, The Crusher said: This kid is a good kid and is going to be a great player. Hopefully one day we can surround him with other players who are not quitting. Didn't you hear? We BLEW IT on that pick because we didn't take Beasley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiFtheOracle Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 4 hours ago, The Crusher said: This kid is a good kid and is going to be a great player. Hopefully one day we can surround him with other players who are not quitting. CLEAN HOUSE AND LET HIM GM AND HEAD COACH!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAR I Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 4 hours ago, Patriot Killa said: Leonard Williams: Team is not giving up. Oh no, they got to him too. SAR I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangerous Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 55 minutes ago, SAR I said: Oh no, they got to him too. SAR I ithink the most telling thing he said was they still have a lot of things to work on. two years into a coaching regime with roughly the same players and they have a lot to work on. imo not a really good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljr Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Good kid ... Keep that fire & this will be your team in 2017-2018 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jet Nut Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 8 hours ago, rangerous said: ithink the most telling thing he said was they still have a lot of things to work on. two years into a coaching regime with roughly the same players and they have a lot to work on. imo not a really good sign. If you look to into it, yes. Or it could be hes right and the record say it too. whats he supposed to do, fool us> He also said he has a lot of things to work on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity28 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Everyone is all like 'hey, look at all this leadership I'm leadering' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetster Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Thank god Macc took this kid! He's the reason at only 22 years old in his 2nd year it's so easy to see that Mo & Sheldon are not worth the money. A lot of us were against Mo getting a monster contract, I think Macc tried to trade him & the fact no one was interested should have told us a lot. Before Watt got hurt, Aaron Donald, Micheal Bennett, put those guys out there for a 1st rounder & there would be at least 5-7 teams lining up for them. Macc put Mo out there, nothing but crickets. Teams watched the tape & weren't impressed with his sacks. Did he make one game changing play last year? I don't remember one. Jets again overpay for a slightly above average player, WE NEVER LEARN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico002 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Fans pay good money to watch you guys give lazy efforts on tackles and get blown out by a terrible colts team on mnf. **** you williams for questioning our fandom because the product we have paid for is complete garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetFanWithNOPSL2017 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 WowSome Jet "fans" should do everyone a favor and root for some new bandwagon team...Great article about Leonard who will probably be someday considered the best Jet defensive player ever. Love his dedication, commitment and desire to get better and then the best.And THANK YOU Mike Maccagnan for drafting this kid and not pissing away the number 6 pick in the draft on a pretender like Beasley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Brown Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 On 12/16/2016 at 10:05 AM, The Crusher said: This kid is a good kid and is going to be a great player. Hopefully one day we can surround him with other players who are not quitting. I agree 100% Now that guy makes me happy to be a Jets fan, he gets it. And a little bit of disappointment in those fans still knocking this young man even in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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