You wouldn’t blame Isaiah Williams for harboring some sore feelings about the Dolphins.
When the Jets met their division rivals in Week 4, he didn’t have his best game.
Williams fumbled the second-half kickoff, and he also called for a fair catch at his own 3-yard line.
Just days after that Miami debacle, he was waived by the Jets.
The 24-year-old was added to the practice squad afterward, then added back to the active roster Oct. 18.
Since then, he has found new life with the Jets.
And now he faces the team that launched his personal roller coaster this season.
One would anticipate some anxious feelings resurfacing for the second-year wideout heading into the season’s second meeting with the Jets’ AFC East rival Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
However, Williams hasn’t dwelled on the bad game, and he doesn’t believe redemption is needed this week.
“It was just more on me,” Williams told The Post on Thursday. “Of course, Miami is a great team. We lost, so anytime you lose to a team, you want to come back. But, I feel like in that moment I beat myself. It wasn’t really nothing against what Miami did or anything. It was more like I did it and I hurt myself.”
Williams had a breakout game in Week 8 at Cincinnati in a 39-38 Jets win — their first victory of the season.
He had five kickoff returns for 132 yards, three punt returns for 38 yards and three receptions for 31 yards.
In Week 12, he averaged 30.5 yards per return against the Ravens, and in a 27-24 victory over the Falcons on Sunday, Williams delivered with a huge 83-yard kick return at the start the fourth quarter.
It led to a field goal that tied the game at 17.
“I’m trying to learn from the mistakes I made against Miami every week,” Williams said. “Each week, I’m just trying to learn and grow.”
Special teams coach Chris Banjo saw Williams’ intentions and potential, ultimately making the decision to invite him back.
“Obviously, that wasn’t the best outing for him personally and then the impact on the team. But when you just talk about resilience and grit, everything that AG [Aaron Glenn] talks about in meetings from start to finish, he embodies that,” Banjo said. “He just came back to work, he didn’t blink. He took accountability on it.”
Quincy Williams was announced as the Jets nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year on Thursday.
The linebacker said he was surprised.
“Most of the time, I’m not doing it for a reward, and then on top of that just giving back,” he said. “And then they told me it’s a reward for it and I was like, ‘Hold on now.’ My reward is mostly the smiles on people’s faces, the great conversations, and hearing the background stories of everybody.”
S Tony Adams (groin), CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (hip) and LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball (hamstring) did not practice.
QB Justin Fields (knee), DE Jermaine Johnson (ankle) and CB Qwan’tez Stiggers (concussion) were limited participants.
After not practicing Wednesday for a vet rest day, DT Harrison Phillips was a full participant, along with DL Will McDonald IV (ankle), who was limited the day prior.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
