OBJ: Jets' Williams teaches 'dirty plays,' responsible for 2017 ankle injury
Ahead of the Cleveland Browns' Monday Night Football matchup with the New York Jets, Browns wideout Odell Beckham called out Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for allegedly coaching "cheap shots and dirty plays," according to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot.
Beckham said those plays include a hit he took from former Browns defender Briean Boddy-Calhoun during the 2017 preseason, when Williams was Cleveland's defensive coordinator. The All-Pro wideout suffered a high ankle sprain on the hit and later broke the same ankle during the regular season.
"It’s like a known rule, in preseason nobody in the NFL is really out to do stuff like that," Beckham said of Boddy-Calhoun's hit. "I had players on this team (who played for Williams) telling me that that's what he was telling them to do, take me out of the game, and it’s preseason. So you just know who he is."
"It changed my life forever," Beckham added of the hit, citing other injuries he's suffered as a result of compensating for his ankle issues.
Williams was previously suspended by the NFL for the entire 2012 season as a result of his central role in the "Bountygate" scandal while defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. He was found to have paid defenders in return for injuring members of opposing teams, including then-40-year-old Brett Favre during the 2009 NFC Championship game.
Williams was reinstated by the league ahead of the 2013 campaign and joined the Jets this past offseason.