BEREA — Quincy Williams said he circled Oct. 11 on the calendar as soon as the schedule came out in May.
He was thinking about this potential matchup long before that.
“My biggest thing last year was practice against them and be like, all right, if I don’t re-sign, y’all know you’re all going to have a nightmare playing against me,” the linebacker said Friday of the matchup with the Jets in East Rutherford, New Jersey. “So nightmare starts on Sunday.”
Browns LB Quincy Williams on playing Jets, his former team. https://t.co/ligJcNSJxM
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) October 9, 2026
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Williams spent the previous five seasons with the Jets before becoming a free agent and signing a two-year, $13 million deal with the Browns in March. He replaced the departed Devin Bush and joined Carson Schwesinger in the middle of the defense.
Although Williams said he doesn’t have hard feelings toward the Jets, his time in New Jersey didn’t end well.
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He missed time with a shoulder injury and was demoted for a win over the Browns after a disagreement with a coach. He started 73 of 78 games with the Jets and was a first-team All-Pro in 2023, when he had a career-best 139 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 10 passes defensed.
In the minutes after Cleveland’s primetime win over the Steelers on Oct. 1, Williams had already turned his attention to the Jets.
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“It’s going to be a mindset of every other week with just a little bit doing my job with a lot more energy,” he said Friday. “And going back to Gotham City. I’m the Joker, so it’s kind of like my home. But the biggest thing is not letting the game get bigger than the game. The biggest thing is keeping the team first and then also keeping the mindset of going 1-0 this week.
“So if it’s really like a middle finger up to the Jets, it’ll be the way I play.”
He’s an emotional player and said teammates talked to him this week about keeping his feelings in check.
“I let them know that it’s not a concern for me. It’s more just playing my game with just a little bit more passion,” he said. “Completing my assignment, making my tackles as normal with just a little bit more passion.”
His teammates have no doubt they’ll see it.
“Obviously everybody wants to beat their old team, so we’re behind him,” safety Grant Delpit said. “I know that he know a lot of dudes over there. He wants to prove a point.
“Also, it’s just showing the dawg that he is. I can’t wait. I know he’s going to make a lot of plays and we’re going to be celebrating a lot.”
That includes Williams’ trademark punch toward the sky.
“He make a play, he get hyped, the uppercut, it’s something special,” Delpit said. “It’s already catching on. He’s just that energizer. And he’s not scared. That’s what I like about my linebackers, eat their steak with their hands.”
The uppercut is popular with teammates.
“Everyone’s doing it now. I like it,” Williams said. “It came from ‘Street Fighter.’ One summer I was playing ‘Street Fighter,’ then I ended up going to the Jets and then that’s when the green hair came too because I was in Gotham City, became the actual embodiment of the Joker on the field. And then it was just a big hit one time and I was like, what celebration I’m going to do? It was like a finish them type mentality. So it was like when people go dizzy and you just finish them with a big uppercut.”
Williams has settled in with his new team as the Browns have rebounded following a 34-10 Week 1 loss with a three-game winning streak. He has 23 tackles, including two for loss, a pass defensed and a quarterback hit. He was most productive against the Panthers with nine tackles, the TFL and pass breakup.
“I think he’s played better. I do,” coach Todd Monken said. “I think he’s gotten comfortable with what we’re asking him to do. You can see his speed showing up on the field.”
The Jets (1-3) won’t have running back Breece Hall (quadriceps) and will go with Braelon Allen as they look to stop a three-game losing streak.
“If he got the ball, he getting hit. I don’t care,” Williams said. “They still going to run what they run. That’s the biggest thing about the Jets, no matter who’s back there.”
He’s had “a lot of healthy trash talk” this week with his former teammates on the Jets and expects his new teammates to have his back.
“We’ve been laughing, joking about it,” he said. “I got a new squad, these are the boys I want to go into a dark alley with. So it’s going to be a dark-alley game.”
Browns LB Quincy Williams on talking to former Jets teammates this week. https://t.co/PvfigPt1Fj
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) October 9, 2026
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