The San Francisco 49ers entered Sunday’s game one win away from the Super Bowl. Their Cinderella story with quarterback Brock Purdy leading the way ended in a 31-7 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. San Francisco’s offense struggled mightily, as both Purdy and Josh Johnson suffered injuries during the contest. Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams watched the game, and it felt a little too familiar to him.
Once the game was over and the Eagles secured another trip to the Super Bowl, Williams shared this tweet, which he quickly deleted:
Quinnen Williams said “give me Aaron Rodgers.” pic.twitter.com/4fFTzD6TRa
— Jake Brown (@JakeBrownRadio) January 30, 2023
This goes against one of the cardinal rules of Twitter: whatever you do, don’t tweet.
It’s not hard to see why Williams feels this way. Purdy was San Francisco’s third-string quarterback behind both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, who each went down with injuries during the regular season. So, Johnson was the fourth quarterback to get significant playing time this year… during the NFC Championship Game, no less.
New York went through something similar, but it was only partially related to injuries. Gang Green used Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson, Mike White, and Chris Streveler throughout the 2022 campaign. And outside of a couple of good performances, the quarterback position was the Jets’ weakest link.
It’s gotten to the point that team owner Woody Johnson is willing to pay for a veteran quarterback to fill that “missing piece” on the Jets’ roster. There are plenty of experienced signal-callers on the market, but Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has seemingly been front and center.
That has only intensified with New York hiring Nathaniel Hackett as its offensive coordinator to replace Mike LaFleur. It was wise of Williams to delete that tweet quickly. But as we all know, the internet is undefeated and never forgets.
The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakout season for the Jets, which included All-Pro First Team and Pro Bowl selections. He entered the year with 15.5 career sacks through three seasons and nearly doubled that in 2022 by racking up 12 more. Williams is planning on playing contract hardball with New York this offseason, as well. While that happens, he should adhere to that one main rule about Twitter… before you tweet something, just don’t.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
