New York Jets: Gregg Williams, Odell Beckham saga continues

New York Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and Cleveland Browns star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. are going at each other prior to Monday night’s game.

We all heard about Gregg Williams’ fiery attitude and personality when the New York Jets hired him to call defensive plays and work with Adam Gase. It only took until the second week of the regular season for that to show during a press conference.

Odell Beckham Jr. lit the flame, saying that he had to watch out for Williams and the way he teaches his players to tackle during the game on Monday night.

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Beckham also said that during a preseason game in 2017, Williams ordered Cleveland Browns defenders to try to take him out and injure him with a dirty hit.

Williams has a history of being accused of ordering players to play dirty. He was the biggest piece of the “Bountygate” scandal placed on the New Orleans Saints, and he was suspended indefinitely because of it.

He was allowed back in the league a year later. Even in that Browns vs. Giants preseason game Beckham was talking about, Browns players laid dirty hits on Beckham, including this ugly play.

Odell Beckham Jr. says current and former #Browns players told him that #Jets DC Gregg Williams would tell them to take him out of the game when possible with hits.

Flashback to this hit he took in 2017 preseason. Odell says it "changed his life."pic.twitter.com/EpVykGiblj

— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) September 12, 2019

That’s in the past though, and so far there has been no evidence of Williams telling Jets players to play dirty. The Jets defense played a pretty clean game last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills and lost more of its own players than the Bills.

Adam Gase spoke to the media, saying from his perspective the Jets play a clean game.

Williams didn’t take such a laid back approach to the Beckham comments. He started off by saying “Odell who?” to the press. Safe to say he didn’t take Beckham’s comments lightly, because he had a field day while talking down on Beckham’s level of play, despite him being a superstar in the NFL.

It appears Gregg Williams doesn’t believe Odell is one of the game’s top playmakers.

(?: @snyjets) pic.twitter.com/Fp2Hk079Gd

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 13, 2019

The conundrum between Williams and Beckham grew on both sides of the spectrum. Browns players, defended Beckham, the Jets were defending Williams, and one unexpected piece came into the picture: Jonathan Vilma.

Vilma, who’s now an ESPN analyst, said that there is no truth to Beckham’s comments on Williams’ coaching style. Here’s the full quote from Vilma on ESPN’s “Get Up” show.

“I was with Gregg Williams for three years, one of the best defensive coordinators I had. And he teaches physicality. He teaches aggression. And by the way, the hit on Odell Beckham that got him injured, was a legal hit. We talk about going low because if a player can’t run, a player can’t score. But when you take those shots that are considered cheap shots by offensive players sometimes, it’s really about going low and taking the legs out.”

The saga between Williams and Beckham has turned into one of the biggest storylines of Monday’s game. The spotlight is on Beckham and Williams’ defense heading into the game, which is exactly what Beckham wanted.

Hopefully the Jets can hold Beckham to a minimum and steal a win from the Browns.