The question on every Lions fan’s lips has now been asked of Detroit head coach Dan Campbell two days in a row: What’s up with rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams and his relative lack of usage?
It’s a good question to ask after Williams played just 11 snaps in the 37-23 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Saturday. Williams received just one passing target. In four games since being activated off the non-football injury list, Williams has one catch and has not played more than 13 snaps in any game.
Campbell gave a pretty consistent answer both times the Williams question was asked since the Week 15 loss.
“I would say, he’s been good,” Campbell said via 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit on Tuesday. “He comes out, he practices, man. He puts in the work. He’s a work in progress. It’s like anything else. He gets better in practice and sharper in the details and all that. He was a little better this week than last week, and we’re going to get him a couple of plays.”
Campbell continued:
“We’ll get him a couple more plays this week. He’s coming. It takes work. We just can’t throw him out there and say, ‘You’re taking 65 plays.’ There’s a trust that has to be built. But he’s working through that, and it’s good.”
That echoes what Campbell told reporters on Monday.
“You’re asking why we’re not giving him more reps? We’ll get him more reps, yeah. We’ll get him more reps,” Campbell said of Williams during his Monday press conference in Allen Park.
Sunday is Detroit’s final home game, hosting the defensively challenged Chicago Bears. Chicago has given up an average of 33 points per game in its last eight, all losses.
Williams is still in the process of getting the timing and spacing in the Lions offense down pat. Williams did not practice with the team or QB Jared Goff for the first two months of the season as he recovered from surgery in January to repair a torn ACL.
