FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams will be a game-time decision against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday because of a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice all week.
Williams, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who has six sacks this season, was hurt during the Jets' 32-25 win last Sunday at Jacksonville. New York listed him Friday on its final injury report as questionable for the game.
“We’re going to push it with Quinnen,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “We think he’s got a chance.”
Williams worked with the trainers in the rehabilitation area during practice Friday. Normally, players who don't participate at all in practice during the final full session before a game don't play, but Ulbrich said that's not the case for Williams.
“If there’s a guy that can play without practicing, it’s him,” Ulbrich said while also noting that the nature of Williams' position is a factor.
“They just don’t open their stride up as much as other athletes on the field, so if there is a place that you can get away with having a hamstring (injury), that’s it,” Ulbrich said. "Saying that, at the same time, the extent of the injury — we've just got to make sure he can protect himself and he can play the best version of football for himself.
“So, next couple days, we’ll collect that information and make a decision that’s best for him and for us.”
While Williams' status is uncertain, nickel cornerback Michael Carter II was ruled out with an ailing back.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating on so many counts, not just for him, but for us,” Ulbrich said. “He’s a guy that we count on. He unlocks our defense in a lot of ways because he’s the facilitator at the second level that really connects the safeties and the corners with the linebackers in the front."
Carter will likely be replaced by Isaiah Oliver, who'll work with cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed — who will play after missing last week with a groin injury — to help defend Rams star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.
Right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle), running back Braelon Allen (back) and defensive tackle Leki Fotu (knee) were all listed as questionable, but fully practiced Friday.
Fotu, who has missed the last seven games, had his 21-day practice window opened earlier this week and he could be activated from injured reserve over the weekend to play Sunday. It was his second stint this season after missing the first five games with a hamstring injury.
“He does have a chance, especially with the Quinnen injury,” Ulbrich said. “Had a good week of practice.”
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FILE -New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (95) during an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours to go before a midnight government shutdown, the House was voting late Friday on a new plan from House Speaker Mike Johnson that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, but drops President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.
Johnson insisted Congress would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the outcome was uncertain. Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal — if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures “start now.”
“We will not have a government shutdown,” Johnson said ahead of the vote.
It's the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered House speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. And it raises stark questions about whether the House speaker will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry GOP colleagues, and work alongside Trump and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who have called the legislative plays this time.
Johnson had almost no choice but to ignore Trump's last-minute pressure for a debt ceiling increase. The speaker knows there won’t be enough support within the GOP majority to pass any funding package, since many Republicans prefer to slash federal government, and won’t allow more debt.
Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate next year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.
“So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill?” scoffed Musk on social media ahead of the vote.
The new 118-page package under consideration would fund the government at current levels through March and adds $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.
Gone would be Trump’s demand for a debt ceiling, which GOP leaders told lawmakers would be debated as part of their tax and border packages in the new year.
It's essentially the same deal that flopped the night before in a spectacular setback — opposed by most Democrats and some of the most conservative Republicans — minus Trump's demand to lift the debt ceiling for two years.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries had been in contact with Johnson, but heading into the evening vote Democrats were cool to this latest effort after the Republican speaker reneged on their original bipartisan compromise.
“Welcome back to the MAGA swamp,” Jeffries posted.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said it looked like Musk, an unelected official and the wealthiest man in the world, was calling the shots for Trump and the Republicans.
“Who is in charge?” she asked during the debate.
Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the incoming administration's new Department of Government Efficiency.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now,” Trump posted early in the morning on social media.
Trump does not fear government shutdowns the way Johnson and the lawmakers see federal closures as political losers that harm the livelihoods of Americans. The incoming Trump administration vows to slash the federal budget and fire thousands of employees. Trump himself sparked the longest government shutdown in history in his first term at the White House, the monthlong closures over the 2018-19 Christmas holiday and New Year period.
More importantly for the president-elect is his demand for pushing the thorny debt ceiling debate off the table before he returns to the White House. The federal debt limit expires Jan. 1, and Trump doesn't want the first months of his new administration saddled with tough negotiations in Congress to lift the nation's borrowing capacity. It gives Democrats, who will be in the minority next year, leverage.
“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump posted — increasing his demand for a now five-year debt limit increase. "Without this, we should never make a deal."
Johnson had tried at first to work around Trump's demands, and then appease them, but failed all around.
Trump and Musk unleashed their opposition — and social media army — on the original plan Johnson presented, which was a 1,500-page bipartisan compromise he struck with Democrats that included the disaster aid for hard hit states, but did not address the debt ceiling situation.
A Trump-backed second plan, Thursday's slimmed-down 116-page bill with his preferred two-year debt limit increase into 2027, failed in a monumental defeat, rejected by most Democrats as an unserious effort — but also by conservative Republicans who refuse to pile on the nation's red ink.
On Friday morning, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump's pick to be incoming Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, arrived early at the speaker's office at the Capitol, where a group of holdouts from the hardline House Freedom Caucus were meeting with Johnson.
But several conservatives left, unusually speechless about the path ahead.
Later, during the lunchtime meeting of House Republicans in the Capitol basement, Johnson asked for a show of hands as they determined the path forward, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said.
Government workers have already been told to prepare for a federal shutdown which would send millions of employees — and members of the military — into the holiday season without paychecks.
President Joe Biden, in his final weeks in office, has played a less public role in the debate, drawing criticism from Trump and Republicans who are trying to shift the blame for any shutdown on him.
Biden has been in discussions with Schumer and Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
But, she said: “Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the original agreement “the quickest, simplest, and easiest way we can make sure the government stays open while delivering critical emergency aid to the American people.”
The speaker's election is the first vote of the new Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, and Johnson will need the support of almost every single House Republican from his razor-thin majority to ensure he can keep the gavel. Democrats will vote for Jeffries.
As the speaker twisted in Washington, his peril was on display. At Turning Point USA’s conservative AmericaFest confab, Trump ally Steve Bannon stirred thousands of activists late Thursday with a withering takedown of the Louisiana Republican.
“Clearly, Johnson is not up to the task. He’s gotta go,” Bannon said, drawing cheers. He smiled and cocked his head at the response, adding: “President Trump? These are your people.”
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Mary Clare Jalonick, Darlene Superville and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., talks with reporters after attending a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House works on a spending bill to avert a shutdown of the Federal Government, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
FILE - President-elect Donald Trump poses for a photo with Dana White, Kid Rock and Elon Musk at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, Nov. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks briefly to reporters just before a vote on an interim spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. The vote failed to pass. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
