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Troy Aikman caught plenty of heat for seemingly taking joy in the many mistakes the Jets committed while facing off against the Chargers on Monday Night Football. Now, Quinnen Williams has come forward to claim the former broadcaster made up a fake quote he attributed to the defensive tackle during the contest.
It’s no secret the New York Jets have plenty of issues to address during a season that’s been marred by the loss of Aaron Rodgers, and those weaknesses were on full display during their 27-6 loss at the hands of Los Angeles.
Troy Aikman didn’t hold back when it came to criticizing the play of Zach Wilson, but he was a bit more positive when it came to evaluating the talents of Queinnen Williams, the DT who was selected with the third overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and signed a four-year deal worth a possible $94 million prior to the start of the season.
While Williams earned All-Pro honors last year, Aikman hinted he was unhappy with how the Jets have deployed him in their defensive scheme, as the former quarterback said he’s been urging the coaching staff to figure out ways to help him make a bigger impact while describing himself as “the highest-paid decoy in football.”
However, things took an interesting twist on Wednesday when Williams claimed Aikman had plucked that quote out of thin air, as he told reporters they didn’t have any conversations before the game while asserting he’d never actually uttered those words.
Quinnen Williams said he never even spoke to Troy Aikman so he doesn’t know where the quote about him being the “most expensive decoy” came from. Williams said it was “upsetting” and “weird” that Aikman attributed that quote to him. #Jets
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) November 8, 2023
It’s worth noting Aikman didn’t explicitly say he’d talked with Williams, and there’s a chance the sentiment was relayed to him by someone else in the Jets organization (hearsay might not be allowed in court, but the standards are a bit more relaxed when it’s an NFL broadcast).
With that said, if Williams was irked enough to call out Aikman in a public forum, it feels safe to assume the quote doesn’t reflect his true feelings about the current state of affairs.