In less than a month’s time, Avery Williamson has gone from expendable to invaluable.
Williamson, who was originally penciled in as one of New York’s starting linebackers last season, is one year removed from a torn ACL suffered while playing with the backups in a meaningless preseason game. As the 28-year-old languished on the sideline, the Jets bolstered their inside linebacker depth, rendering him an inevitable salary cap casualty at some point this offseason until C.J. Mosley decided to opt-out of the 2020 season.
Now, Williamson is New York’s most experienced linebacker and all but a lock to begin the year in the starting lineup. That gives him a chance at redemption. Adam Gase, meanwhile, will be thrilled watching Williamson’s return to the field after his decision to leave the linebacker in that preseason game played a part in Williamson’s season-ending knee injury.
“That’s going to be a good day for me, personally,” Gase recently said. “I know, for him, it’ll be a great day.”
Immediately after Williamson went down, Gase expressed regret for leaving him in so late in a preseason contest. That regret has since turned into happiness and relief as Williamson continues to work his way back into action.
“I was just kind of kicking myself, thinking he should have never been on the field, this should have never happened, we should have had him for the season,” Gase said. “He was great about it, he knew how I felt about it. He focused on getting better. I know he’s excited to get out there. I’m going to be extremely excited to see him going again and seeing where he’s at. I just want to see him get in pads, be able to just start playing football again.”
Williamson still has hurdles to clear before he returns to the field. It will also likely take him a while to get back in the swing of things after spending an entire season on the shelf. Still, this upcoming season could be one of redemption for the veteran linebacker. The Jets certainly need that to be the case in order for their defense to perform at a high clip in 2020.
“Coach Gase has told me many times he hated that it happened, and shoot, I’m over it now,” Williamson, who hopes to be ready for Week 1, said. “At this point, I’m just ready to work, go out there and show that I’m back where I was last year and ready to take the next step to be better than last year.”
