With relief for C.J. Gardner-Johnson came a hurdle for Jameson Williams.
On the bright side for the Lions, Gardner-Johnson has dodged a bullet after being carted off the field Monday with what looked like a significant knee injury.
"It appears that he's going to be OK," Dan Campbell said Tuesday. "It doesn’t appear to be anything serious. We’ll see. The images look pretty good. He may be out a day or two, but seems to be OK."
It's a major relief for the Lions, who signed Gardner-Johnson to be a force in their revamped secondary. He led the NFL in picks last season. And it has to be a major relief for Gardner-Johnson, who signed a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Lions in hopes of cashing in on a long-term deal next offseason.
Those plans seemed to go up in smoke in the second practice of camp when Gardner-Johnson crumpled to the grass, clutched at his knee and was carted to the locker room in tears. Campbell, though, kept himself from thinking the worst.
"I’ve been around this game long enough, every player reacts differently to injuries, so you just don’t know," he said. "Until you get the information, you don’t let your mind go there. But obviously to hear the news now, you feel a lot better about it."
If a minor injury for Gardner-Johnson is a relief, it's slightly frustrating in the case of Williams. The Lions' second-year receiver failed to finish practice Monday due to what Campbell called "a little something with his leg."
"He probably won’t go for a day or two here, either," Campbell said. "I don’t think it’s significant, but it’s enough to where he’s not going to practice."
Every practice is crucial this summer for Williams, who missed most of last season recovering from a torn ACL and is suspended for the first six games of this season. He's in a race against time to bank as many reps as possible with Jared Goff, so the Lions will hope to get him back on the field quickly.
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