The Jets on Wednesday designated LB Quincy Williams to return from IR. He missed the past four games with a shoulder injury. The designation doesn't necessarily mean he's ready to play this week. The team has 21 days to either fully activate Williams or put him on season-ending IR. We'll watch his practice participation this week and check for signals on the Jets' LB plan.
2025 Fantasy Football Impact
There are two factors complicating the outlook here:
- Williams' name has been tossed around quite a bit in trade rumors, and he would make sense as a mover.
- Rookie LB Kiko Mauigoa has garnered some praise while filling in for Williams.
Mauigoa specifically earned a strong 86.3 overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus in Week 6 against Denver. From Jets blog The Jet Press:
"Mauigoa was one of the best players on a Jets defense that held Bo Nix and the Broncos to just 13 points. It was an incredibly encouraging performance from a player who has a real chance to carve out a long-term role in New York."
Williams, meanwhile, is in the final year of his Jets contract and will turn 30 ahead of next season. That makes him a pretty easy trade candidate if there's interest -- which there should be -- and that factor could mean the Jets keeping him off the field a bit longer (to avoid injury).
We'll see how the rest of this week plays out. For now, our Week 8 LB rankings have playing time split between Williams and Mauigoa.
