Quinnen Williams injury: Jets DT to miss a 'a week or two' of training camp with calf issue

Star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams injured his calf at New York Jets training camp and will miss "about a week or two," coach Aaron Glenn said after Friday's practice. The timeline does not put in jeopardy Williams' availability for Week 1 but will force him to miss a chunk of camp as he gears up for what could be a fourth straight Pro Bowl campaign.

Glenn said it is a "precautionary" measure to hold Williams out of practice. With the recent string of Achilles tendon injuries that plagued standouts across multiple sports, teams could be more wary of calf issues given their potential to precede devastating ailments. Glenn did not explicitly state that the Jets are taking such an approach with their All-Pro lineman, though.

"We want to make sure that this player is going to be good," Glenn said. "We know what he's all about. We know what he can do. We want to hold him out, and we'll see how that goes."

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The Jets also saw offensive line newcomer John Simpson sustain a back injury and rookie safety Malachi Moore strain an oblique. Glenn said both of them will "be just fine" and noted Simpson will be on the same timeline as Williams as a precautionary measure.

Williams' timeline likely makes him unavailable for the Jets' preseason opener on Aug. 9, although it is unclear the extent to which the franchise will deploy its starters in the matchup with the Packers anyway. If Williams misses two full weeks, he could still see some preseason action and have ample time to build up before the Sept. 7 season opener against the Steelers.

Williams has only missed six games in his career. His most recent absence came late in the 2022 season when he sat out of one contest with another calf strain.

"He's actually had this injury before," said Glenn. "So he understands exactly how you have to operate and make sure he goes through the process of getting it healed. He'll be just fine."

Year 7 comes with more high expectations for Williams, who amassed six sacks in 2024 and added two additional tackles for loss in another highly disruptive season in the middle of the defensive line. The former No. 3 overall pick enters this season the third year of a four-year, $96 million contract, which he signed on the heels of a 12-sack explosion in a breakout 2022 campaign.