In the latest wrinkle to Mike Williams’ strange Jets week, the wideout — who didn’t practice the last two days — participated in individual drills Friday for the first time since their trade for star receiver Davante Adams.
Williams missed Gang Green’s practice entirely Wednesday and only worked on a side field Thursday during the portion of the session open to reporters.
On the team’s injury report, Williams’ absences were listed as personal and not due to any injury. His status for Gang Green’s game Sunday night against the Steelers remains unknown.
The 30-year-old’s wide tumultuous week began with getting publicly criticized by quarterback Aaron Rodgers for running the wrong route on a game-sealing interception during the Jets’ loss to the Bills on Monday.
The next day, general manager Joe Douglas completed a trade seemingly a year in the making by landing Adams from the Raiders to reunite the star wideout with Rodgers, his former Packers teammate.
That, then, further complicated Williams’ role, especially given the context of his route gaffe — even as Rodgers downplayed it the next day during a “Pat McAfee Show” appearance and shifted blame to himself — and underwhelming six games to start the 2024 campaign.
Williams, who signed a one-year deal with the Jets in March, had a delayed start to training camp while recovering an ACL tear and opened the regular season on a snap count, has caught just 10 passes for 145 yards.
An expected role as Rodgers’ No. 2 target behind Garrett Wilson ended up being anything but that.
And in the aftermath of the Adams trade, the Chargers, Steelers and Saints were reportedly among teams “reaching out” to the Jets about a potential Williams trade, according to The Athletic.
