Because it didn’t occur in a regular-season game, it didn’t get the attention it might have had the game meant something.
But the hit that Jets linebacker Kwon Alexander delivered to Giants running back Antonio Williams in the second quarter of the preseason finale for both teams last Sunday at MetLife Stadium — a blow that came with bad intentions — was a play that can change the course of games.
The 28-year-old Alexander, 6-foot-1, 227 pounds, hit Williams so hard that he knocked the 5-11, 215-pound running back backward by a couple of yards.
The sound from the hit could be heard from Hackensack to Hackettstown. The hit was so violent it separated Williams from the ball almost immediately upon impact, though — to Alexander’s chagrin — the Giants recovered it.
If you’re a fan and you like hard-nosed football, the Alexander hit was eye candy.
If you’re a football coach, you show it on film over and over and over again in the team meeting, because the hit was legal, it was delivered with textbook technique and it was beautiful.
“When I hit somebody, I go through their soul,’’ Alexander told The Post, “I want to make them feel me when I hit them.’’
A week later, Williams may still be feeling that hit. As for his soul, well, we can’t speak for that.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who was Alexander’s defensive coordinator with the 49ers in 2019 and ’20, knew the hit was a big one at the time because he could feel it on the sideline. But it was when Saleh watched the TV tape of it later when he really saw its impact.
“If you listen to the TV version, they [the announcers] were on an off topic — they were talking about something else — and then that hit happened and it brought them back in the game,’’ Saleh said.
Alexander, who played in New Orleans last season and was signed by the Jets in late July, not only adds needed depth at the outside linebacker spots, but also brings energy through the entire locker room.
“His communication, his volume and his voice, the detail, the effort, his style of play embodies everything that we talk about,’’ Saleh said. “[His] effort, technique and a violence that we expect to see play in and play out from everybody, he embodies all of it. He brings people to life and it’s all the little things.
“I think he’s got a specific handshake for everybody on the football team. I don’t know how he remembers all of that, but he’s a unique individual, special individual and I’m really happy he’s here.’’
Not as happy as Alexander is to be a Jet and hitting people again as he did Williams last weekend.
“It felt great to hit someone like that again,’’ Alexander said. “When I had my chance [at Williams], I just took my shot. Everybody on the sideline was excited, everybody was pumped up. I was angry because we didn’t get the ball. We need to get that ball. A hit like that can be a spark. It was just a moment, man.’’
While Alexander was speaking to The Post about that hit on Williams, safety Will Parks, who was sitting at his locker stall a few feet away, said: “Kwon Alexander made somebody open up their arms. He hit [Williams] so hard, he made him say, ‘Forget the ball.’ That was mean. [Williams] went backwards.
“When you got a play like that, guys rally around that. Those plays are game-changers, those are plays that turn games around. A play like that is electrifying.’’
Saleh would like to see a lot more of those when the real season begins next Sunday at home against the Ravens.
“He’s got the same juice and energy that I remember back in San Fran,’’ Saleh said. “He picked up the system really well, he’s taken to the room. I really love the energy, the juice, the leadership and everything that he brings.
“He had a lot of juice in that Giants game where it looks like he’s starting to get his legs underneath him. Remember, he didn’t have any OTAs. He got here just before training camp, so he’s been building up to that.
“In the Giants game, if you just put a lens on him and just watch him throughout the game, he was flying around. He looked fast, he looked fresh, he was energetic. His legs were obviously behind him because he was delivering some pops on the backs.’’
Yes, he was. Just ask Antonio Williams.
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