On Monday night, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers crossed a line by calling out receiver Mike Williams for running the wrong route on the play that became the game-sealing interception in a loss to the Bills.
Between that and the trade that brought receiver Davante Adams to the Jets, Williams missed two days of practice due to “personal reasons.” He practiced on Wednesday, and he’s apparently ready to go for Sunday night at Pittsburgh. Even if Williams will be WR4 on Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
Via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Williams said he’s not upset about the public criticism from Rodgers. Which is smart, given the Rodgers would probably be upset if Williams dared to publicly say he was upset for Rodgers publicly blaming the play on Williams.
“I just have to be on the red line,” Williams said, mimicking Rodgers’s claim that Williams broke his route to the inside, prompting Rodgers to adjust his throw and causing the interception. (Devin McCourty explained on Tuesday’s PFT Live that the interception was on Rodgers for not throwing the ball away once he saw that Williams wasn’t where he was supposed to be.)
It’s clear that Williams has yet to win the trust of Rodgers, who now has two of his former Green Bay receivers in the fold.
“We’re definitely still building,” Williams said regarding his chemistry with Rodgers.
The reality is that Williams might not be in the building much longer. With the trade deadline 18 days away, don’t be surprised if Williams ends up elsewhere, sooner than later.