The wet weather may have dampened some spirits at Jets-Commanders joint practice on Thursday, but there was no raining on Mike Williams’ parade.
The veteran wide receiver, who passed his physical and was activated off of the PUP list on Wednesday, took part in individual drills on Thursday for the first time as a member of the Jets.
And while head coach Robert Saleh acknowledged that the 29-year-old is a bit further along in his recovery from ACL surgery than the team may have anticipated, he still has some recovering to do before he can take part in team drills.
“The good news is obviously he’s a lot further ahead than we anticipated,” Saleh said. “If I’m not mistaken, he was out at individual and some route-running stuff early, so that’s going to kind of be his progression. He’ll be involved in all of the walkthroughs, individual, routes on air.
"So, for the next week or two, that’s about the extent of what we’ll see unless he starts feeling good. But we’re anticipating him getting back into team work, call it a couple of weeks from now.”
“It felt good,” said Williams. “I’ve been working off to the side for some time. Now just to do individuals with the group, it felt good. Putting on shoulder pads, running with the guys felt good.”
Williams tore his ACL in his left knee during Week 3 of last season, and after signing a one-year deal with the Jets this offseason the veteran has had to watch from the sidelines as his team took the practice fielders during spring and the early portion of training camp.
“I’d say this whole process has been a grind, putting the work in, early mornings, late nights, just trying to get back right,” Williams said.
“I was waking up every day just trusting the process.”
Though he’s battled a handful of injuries during his collegiate and pro career, there’s no doubting that Williams is a dynamic playmaker when healthy. Listed at 6-foot-4, 218 pounds, Williams had 309 career catches, 4,806 yards, and 31 touchdowns during his seven seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The hope for the Jets is that a healthy Williams adds yet another playmaking option to what could be a loaded offense.
“He adds a lot,” said Saleh, “just in terms of defenses having to balance out in terms of how they disperse their coverage, where you’re not just paying all of your attention to Garrett [Wilson], but you’ve got to deal with Breece Hall, you’ve got to deal with [Tyler] Conklin, you’ve got to deal with Mike. So the balance of the offense, or from a defensive perspective it becomes balanced, so you can be more creative in your play design.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Williams said about playing with this New York offense. “I feel like I help the offense, I help this team explosively in the passing game, block outside on the edge for the backs, and put some points on the board.”
When Williams first signed with New York, he said that being ready for Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 9 was his goal. On Thursday, he said “I guess we gotta see” if he’ll be ready to go in Week 1, but also said that he’ll continue to attack his rehab.
“Just keep progressing,” Williams said. “Whatever the plan is they have for me, just continue to stick with that and put my best foot forward.”