Jameson Williams had an eventful day in his first padded practice of training camp, for better and worse. By the end of it, Williams said he was just happy to be back on the field after missing practices last week with a leg issue and missing most of his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL.
"I'm most proud of being out here, getting a chance to put on my cleats, my shoulder pads and helmet and catch footballs, run, block, just play football," he said Monday. "I'm happy to be out here. Last year I was standing on the sideline in a shirt, no cleats, no jersey, nothing. It's just exciting to be out here."
On Monday, Williams showed why the Lions have such high hopes for him this season -- and why those hopes need time to bloom. He beat defenders and dropped passes, per reporters on hand, excelled at getting open but struggled to connect with Jared Goff. At one point, Williams got into a spat with Starling Thomas V after failing to catch a pass against the undrafted rookie corner in a one-on-one red zone drill. Later, he laid a heavy downfield block on Will Harris to help spring a long run for Jahmyr Gibbs.
Asked about his scrap with Thomas, which ended with Williams taking a swipe at Thomas' helmet after Thomas got in his face, Williams said, "I just look at it as football, a physical play. We got over it the next play. ... We know we can't do that in a game, it's 15 yards. It's just practice, though. Things get rowdy'd up and things happen."
Regarding his block on Harris, which recalled a similar play last season when Williams cleared out Vikings safety Josh Metellus on a touchdown run by Justin Jackson in the Lions' Week 14 win over Minnesota, Williams said that offensive coordinator Ben Johnson him in a meeting a couple days ago, "No block, no rock." Message received.
"It's a team sport, so you gotta do what you gotta do," Williams said. "Even if it's a run play, you gotta make sure you help the running back because on a pass play, he's got to pass block for us. It just goes hand in hand, back and forth, you know how it is."
Williams is in a race against time to bank as many reps as possible before he has to serve his six-game suspension for gambling at the start of this season. He said he has "good chemistry" with Goff, but it hasn't always appeared that way in practices this offseason. Such was the case Monday, when they failed to link up on numerous occasions even when Williams was open. Quarterback and receiver aren't yet on the same page.
But Williams says he doesn't feel extra urgency to maximize practice time with his suspension looming.
"I wouldn't say that, because I get in the same work every day with the team. I get to work out with the team, do everything with the team," Williams said. "I wouldn't say it's a sense of urgency. Me and Goff have been doing our thing, the whole offense is getting time in, running plays with them, doing a lot of things with them. I wouldn't say a sense of urgency."
Next week will bring another challenge for Williams when the Giants come to town for a couple days of joint practices, before they take on the Lions in the preseason opener. Williams said he's eager for people to see him play against real opponents.
"A lot of people ain't got a chance to see me play. I played six games last year, got to miss six this year. I'm just hoping to go put a show on with my team, showing that we can do this," he said.
Drafted 12th overall last year, Williams caught one pass -- a 41-yard touchdown -- on nine targets as a rookie. He also turned one handoff into a 40-yard gain. He said he "worked on my game completely" this offseason, "so you're going to see a lot coming from me."
"I've got a lot of goals, but I'd rather just keep those to myself. I've got a lot of expectations, too, but the main goal is just to win, play team football," Williams said. "That's our whole goal as a team is to win, go far in the playoffs, get a Super Bowl. Just winning, that's No. 1."
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