FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Isaiah Williams was sitting at home, upset and uncertain if he had just blown his NFL chance.
The wide receiver and return specialist had just been waived by the New York Jets, a few days after two costly mistakes were key contributors to the team's loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 29.
“The night when I got cut, I remember praying like, man, God, I feel like I had did everything right up into that point,” Williams recalled this week. “Feeling like I deserved something when I was wrong for that, you know what I’m saying? And I remember getting to the point where I’m like, OK, so what’s next?”
Well, an unlikely redemption story a few weeks later — capped by Williams being selected the AFC's special teams player of the week after having 226 all-purpose yards in New York's 39-38 comeback win at Cincinnati last Sunday for its first victory this season.
“It’s just glory to God, like, that’s the only thing that got me through that because it was tough for me,” said Williams, who leaned on his faith. “But that’s life, though. Life’s tough. Everybody goes through things, but it’s all about how you bounce back, how you persevere through them things. The righteous man falls down seven times, but gets up at eight. That’s what I live by.”
The 24-year-old Williams wasn't even with the Jets when the season started. Signed by Detroit — where current New York coach Aaron Glenn was the defensive coordinator — as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois last year, he was claimed off waivers by Cincinnati and finished last season as the Bengals' primary punt returner.
He was among Cincinnati's final cuts this summer and re-signed to the practice squad. After Xavier Gipson was waived following a costly fumble in New York's season-opening loss to Pittsburgh, the Jets signed Williams off the Bengals' practice squad.
His third game for the Jets, though, was brutal.
Williams fumbled the kickoff to open the second half against the Dolphins, leading to a touchdown drive in Miami’s 27-21 victory in front of a “Monday Night Football” audience. He later called a fair catch of a punt at the Jets 3 early in the fourth quarter rather than let the football potentially bounce into the end zone for a touchback, putting the offense in terrible field position while trailing.
Five days later, the Jets announced they waived Williams.
“I didn’t think I was going to get another opportunity this year, if I’m being honest,” he said.
The following week, Williams was re-signed to the Jets' practice squad.
“It really hit me and showed me, like, I’m meant to be here, God placed me here for a reason,” Williams said. "To be an undrafted guy and to have a game like that, for some guys, sometimes you would think it’s over, you know what I’m saying?
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“But for the same team that I made a mistake on and it cost the team, they gave me another opportunity.”
He was promoted from the practice squad the following week and played, and later signed to the active roster as a result of injuries to other players.
Last Sunday, Williams had the breakout performance of his career — against his former team.
He returned five kickoffs for 132 yards and three punts for 38 yards, along with three catches for 31 yards and 25 yards rushing on his lone carry. And it came, Williams said, after he was the scout team running back for much of practice last week.
It was the 11th time since 2000, according to Tru Media, that a player had 25 yards or more on a run, catch, kickoff return and punt return, and first since Baltimore's Devin Duvernay accomplished the feat in 2022.
Williams' 37-yard kickoff return and 21-yard punt return in the fourth quarter each led to touchdowns.
“Isaiah did a hell of a job of returning the ball,” Glenn said. “Obviously, it’s a pretty good redemption story of what happened with him, fumbling the ball and him making that mistake of catching the ball beyond that 10-yard rule that we have. And now he’s in the groove of understanding exactly what we want when it comes to the returner.”
Williams also might have shown himself to be an all-purpose playmaker in a Jets offense that had been struggling mightily before rolling up 502 yards against the Bengals.
“My biggest thing was I’m going to come back to the practice squad, work my tail off, get better every single day, make my teammates better in every aspect," Williams said. "And when I do get my opportunity — if I do get another opportunity — I’m going to make the most of it.
“It just happened it came the following week. I’m like, man, this is crazy.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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