If the Cowboys fanbase were to sum up the 2025 season so far in a single word, they’d be hard-pressed to come up with a more fitting choice than frustrated.
But they don’t come anywhere close to the newest Cowboy in their appreciation of exactly what that word really means.
In his first Q&A session with Dallas media since joining the Cowboys via a blockbuster trade on Tuesday, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was blunt in describing how difficult his last six-plus years have been with the New York Jets.
“As an ultra-competitor, I think anybody who’s going through many, many losses like I was going through, there’s going to be frustration,” Williams explained at The Star on Wednesday. “Of course, I was frustrated. But the relationship that I have with A.G. [Jets head coach Aaron Glenn]the relationship I have with the GM, Darren [Mougey]is still a great relationship. They knew I was frustrated. I think the world knew I was frustrated, being there so long and still losing.”
It had to have been a case of extreme culture shock when the Jets selected Williams with the No. 3-overall pick in 2019’s draft. The Alabama native had come off appearances in back-to-back CFP National Championship games, with the Crimson Tide going 27-2 in the two seasons that Williams was on the field.
His New York tenure, though, saw the Jets amass a combined record of just 33-75, with the team never finishing above third place in the AFC East and not once topping seven wins in a season.
The Cowboys may not be playing up to their usual standard in 2025, but they’re certainly not performing at Jets-level ineptitude. Williams himself got a first-hand look at one of Dallas’ better outings of the year in Week 4 during a 37-22 Cowboys win over Gang Green that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score suggests.
Now Williams will be going up against Prescott, Lamb, Pickens & Co. every single day… albeit at a somewhat lower practice intensity and while wearing the same colors.
“I’m super familiar with this offense and this O-line because I just played them,” Williams laughed, “But I’m super excited to be a part of a team [and] an organization that’s going to win and going to do good things.”
Williams will enjoy a rare two weeks off thanks to his trade falling between the Jets’ and Cowboys’ byes. But the three-time Pro Bowler says he’s eager to join what he called a “super loaded and super talented” defensive line group, specifically shouting out Kenny Clark, Osa Odighizuwa, Dante Fowler, and Solomon Thomas, his former Jets teammate.
By the time the Cowboys suit up again to face the Raiders on Nov. 17, Williams figures to be champing at the bit to finally turn it loose with his new team.
“I’m hungry to win. That’s the main thing,” Williams said. “I’m an ultimate competitor, man. Everything I do is about winning. Everything I do, everything I work [for]. When I wake up, I just want to win. That kind of forms my ego: I can do anything the coaches ask me to do if it’s going to get us a win.”
And moving forward, Williams will no doubt be thrilled to have a better chance at actually coming off the field with a win.
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