Jets GM Joe Douglas 'Confident' in WR Mike Williams' ACL Recovery

The New York Jets haven’t found much success in recent years, but winning offseason championships have still filled their proverbial trophy case. The Jets emerged as one of free agency’s early winners with its acquisition of left tackle Tyron Smith and receiver Mike Williams, among other upgrades to the offense.

While optimism is in the air, free agency has proven to be fool’s gold more often than the league’s biggest spenders. For every player that hits the open market, there’s a team that lets him get there.

Both Williams and Smith have serious injury histories putting their football futures at risk. This was reflected in Smith’s contract, which includes just $6.5 million in guarantees. Williams, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Jets, is currently recovering from an ACL tear that held him to just three games. 

At the NFL Annual Meeting, New York general manager Joe Douglas provided an update on his recovery.

“Mike’s rehabbing the knee injury,” Douglas said. “I would say he’s not gonna be ready for the start of training camp, but again, there’s a lot of time, so we’ll see how the rehab progresses.

“There’s a lot of checkpoints to hit, but we do feel confident that he’s gonna be ready for the year.”

This doesn’t seem to be dissimilar from running back Breece Hall’s 2023 campaign, which featured a bounceback from ACL surgery. Hall played in Week 1 – and performed well – but was still clearly dealing with the lasting effects of his lower body injury. Luckily for him and the Jets, those concerns would dissipate soon after; Hall totalled 994 rushing yards and five scores.

If Williams is on that same track, the Jets may be asked to balance getting him on the field early or waiting to unleash him at 100 percent. Given the presence of incentives in his contract, it may be hard to keep him off the field.

For now, all the Jets can do is hope his recovery ends well and bolster the reinforcements of the receiving corps. While a pass-catcher at No. 10 is in play, Douglas has his options open to him. Whether there’s another signing to come or a rookie being welcomed into the receiver room, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another addition.

Currently, Xavier Gipson and Allen Lazard project to see the third and fourth-most snaps at the position. Given Williams’ murky medical history, including knee, ankle, and back injuries, it makes sense to add an element of insurance, protecting the Jets deep in the season and giving Williams as much time to ramp up as necessary.