Jameson Williams will be sidelined before he's sidelined. The Lions receiver, who's prepared to serve a six-game suspension at the start of the season for violating the NFL's gambling policy, left Wednesday's joint practice with the Jaguars with a hamstring injury and is facing some rehab before he gets back on the field.
Asked about Williams' status, Dan Campbell said Thursday on 97.1 The Ticket, "Well, look, we’re not going to have him for the first six games (anyway), so."
Williams, who missed most of last season recovering from a torn ACL, also missed the first four practices of training camp this year with a leg injury. He's been off the field far more than he's been on it since the Lions traded up to take him 12th overall in last year's draft. His latest setback will "probably go through the preseason," said Campbell, which will cost him crucial practice and preseason reps.
"He misses a chance to get full-speed, full-tilt reps, the timing in the pass game, lining up, all of it, moving versus press, through the zones, just time on task," Campbell said. "So yeah, there’ll be a setback with it."
He added, "Look, it’s a challenge, but I think what we gotta do from now until whenever he’s back on the field or until the season starts, which we know what that entails, is as much film study as we can get. You get him in the classroom. He’s gotta rehab now."
Williams has all the talent in the world, but a scarcity of NFL experience. No matter what shakes out with his hamstring, he will have missed 17 of the first 23 games of his career by the time he's eligible to return from his suspension this season. All the Lions can do is hope that he heals quickly.
"You don’t want any of your players to get hurt or go down and I understand his situation, we all do, but we’re not going to sweat it," Campbell said. "We do what we can do to get him to come along and he rehabs and when he’s ready, he’s ready."
A complication to Williams' rehab could be presented by his suspension, which stipulates that he's not allowed in the Lions facility for the first three weeks of the season. That means that "technically" Williams can't receive treatment from the team during that span, Campbell said, "but we’re looking into that."
The news is better on Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit's No. 1 receiver who injured his right ankle in Wednesday's practice. St. Brown, eighth in the NFL with 196 catches the last two seasons, might miss some practice time, but nothing more than that.
"To me, Saint is about as unbreakable as they get, so I’m not worried about it," said Campbell. "I don’t think this is going to be something major. He could be down a little bit, but tentatively right know, I think we’ll be OK here. This guy can overcome quite a bit, so I think we’ll be alright."
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