FRISCO, Texas — Quinnen Williams said Wednesday that he never carried any emotion about the trade that sent him from the Jets to the Dallas Cowboys, and that returning to MetLife Stadium on Sunday does not change his week.
“Oh, yeah, I really never had emotions about it. It’s pretty cool,” Williams said. “Yeah, but just focus on us, focus on getting better every single day, focus on our craft and me personally, my craft and my job to do and get ready to go compete in the football game.”
Dallas acquired Williams in early November, sending the Jets a first-round pick that had come from Green Bay in the Micah Parsons trade. He signed a three-year, $105.9 million extension this offseason.
Sunday is his second trip back to the building. He started all 7 games he played for Dallas last season and finished with 21 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 9 quarterback hits, and an interception.
Quinnen Williams On A Full Offseason In Dallas
His first Cowboys game came on Monday, Nov. 17, at Las Vegas. Dallas won 33-16 and held the Raiders to 236 total yards and 27 rushing yards.
“It’s pretty cool. I had the whole offseason to be able to compete, be able to go against our offense, be able to learn and craft with the guys next to me like KC and RG and all those guys,” Williams explained. “So it’s super exciting being able to kind of go out there with confidence and the guys next to you, and I’m super ready.”
Kenny Clark came over in the same Parsons trade and played all 17 games in 2025 with 3 sacks and 36 tackles. Dallas traded for Rashan Gary this offseason.
The New York Giants will run at that front with Cam Skattebo and quarterback Jaxson Dart, who carried 86 times for 487 yards and 9 touchdowns as a rookie.
“It’s pretty cool. I enjoy playing football. And that’s football. That’s the mindset. Every single week is going to be physical. Every single week is going to be tough,” Williams said. “So just really focus on our personal craft, my personal craft, getting better and just ready to go to compete.”
Quinnen Williams On Blocking Out The Noise
Williams played at Alabama and spent six-plus seasons with the Jets before the trade.
“Yeah, I played for Alabama and I played for the Jets. So it’s like I’m probably a pro at blocking out the outside noise,” Williams said. “So, yeah, my experience in those two teams probably helped me do that.”
He said he cannot explain the mechanism, only that it comes naturally now. He does not use social media.
A Sunday night window does not register either.
“Yeah, it really doesn’t mean much to me. Just because, man, I just take advantage of it every time I get a chance to put a helmet on, especially for the Cowboys, get a chance to line up and play football, especially with the guys in the locker room,” Williams said. “So if it’s at 1 o’clock, if it’s a night game or 8 o’clock, it really doesn’t matter. I just enjoy playing football and enjoy this team, playing with this team and being alongside of them.”
Quinnen Williams On His Conditioning
Williams has not played a game since last season. The Cowboys conditioned as a team again Wednesday.
“Yeah, I try to do extra every single day, every single day here. Like we’ve been conditioning as a team every single day during training camp, every single day now,” Williams added. “And like you’ve seen today, we condition today.”
“And just kind of be cognitive of my conditioning and myself and the things that I, the experience I’ve had when I’ve been tired in games and trying to push past it and things like that. So I got a few things I want to be able to critique, a few things I want to be able to be detail-oriented on to get ready for a Sunday game.”
The Jets drafted Williams third overall in 2019. Kickoff is 7:20 p.m. CT Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on NBC.
