Of all the new coaches that could help Sam Darnold in his second NFL season, it's Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams who could have the biggest impact on the quarterback.
Williams has a reputation for being intense and bringing that competitive energy into practices, which is one of the reasons why head coach Adam Gase hired him.
That intensity, coupled with the different schemes and looks he will deploy in the defense in practice, is something should benefit Darnold, according to offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.
"I think it helps Sam a lot, just seeing all of the different looks and he has so many different multiple personnel groupings that you know," Loggains told the team website. "You're seeing different fronts, different coverages, especially in the third-down stuff. ... It's going to be tremendous value as the season goes on and it's stuff that he can put away in his toolbox and it's going to come up in Week 6, 7, 8, and he's getting a lot of good experience from that stuff."
That kind of intensity was evident last year with the Cleveland Browns when a defensive player made contact with Baker Mayfield in training camp, which reportedly led to some sharp words exchanged between Williams and then-Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
"Don't touch the f---ing quarterback in practice," Haley reportedly yelled.
"Somebody's gotta f---ing block 'em," Williams reportedly replied.
Darnold got a taste of Williams' defense last year in Week 3 when he went was just 15-for-31 with 169 yards and two interceptions and has already gotten some doses of it during OTAs and mini camp.
"There were a couple times where he throws an interception and I'm not happy about it, he wasn't happy about it and just letting it carry over. Just kind of being able to reset, start over, go to the next play," Gase told the Jets' website. "Those little tiny things, it's all valuable, it's tough against Gregg's defense. You're getting multiple looks day-in and day-out and it's just not slowing down. The good thing is when we hit training camp and start over, now he's heard all this stuff. It's been kind of ingrained in his brain and then we'll get better as we go."