On his first rep of red-zone 1-on-1's Monday, Jameson Williams cooked Ennis Rakestraw on a slant to the back of the end zone. On his last, he ran maybe his cleanest route of camp, a comeback to the pylon that looked like a fade until he put his foot in the ground and shook veteran corner Rock Ya-Sin.
After practice, fellow receiver Tim Patrick was talking about the playmakers the Lions boast on both sides of the ball when he said, "I knew we had a great team last year, but it’s looking like the people that needed to take the next step took the next step."
And who might that be?
"Jamo," said Patrick. "Jamo. People looked at him as just a deep threat, but if you’ve been watching this camp, he’s ran every single route. I think most of his routes have been short routes that he’s been catching. Everybody knows what he can do in the deep game, but now he’s finding that short range and that’s going to make him impossible to stop."
For now, Williams is impossible to ignore. Even on a slow day, the man is a show. When the first-time offense isn't in action, he's either talking smack to the defense and coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, strutting onto the field to hype up one of his teammates for making a play, or coaching up a young receiver on a play he might have missed. And when it's his own turn to make a play, Williams gets his money's worth.
He rips his helmet off and/or flexes and roars after almost every catch. After a short gain during 11-on-11's last week, Williams hurled the ball so high into the air that safety Kerby Joseph settled under it and signaled for a fair catch (and then juked a couple imaginary gunners). Patrick laughed when asked if he's ever seen a receiver celebrate every, single, play, like the 24-year-old Williams and said, "Never."
"I don’t know how he doesn’t get tired, honestly," Patrick said.
Williams' exuberance is an expression of confidence. Coming off his first 1,000-yard season, he seems to know he's on the verge of something more. Not only is his route-running more polished, but "Coach Johnny Mo lets me run more routes," Williams said last week. That would be offensive coordinator John Morton, who said prior to Monday's practice, "You’ve seen the skillset. He’s very explosive, and this is year four."
"He’s gotten better every year," said Morton, who was part of the Lions' offensive staff when Williams was a rookie. "He’s matured. It’s tough for a young receiver to come in this league because they don’t run a lot of different routes in college. Now he’s progressed through and I want to take that skillset and isolate him. I think he’s been phenomenal."
The vertical passing game is clearly an emphasis for Morton, who's been dialing up deep shots to Williams from the start of camp. When Morton was passing-game coordinator for the Broncos last season, rookie quarterback Bo Nix attempted the second most throws in the NFL of 20-plus yards, per PFF, and 30 more than Goff -- who finished 22nd in the same category.
Morton said he's "taking more shots" in camp, "because we have the guys that can do it. If you got 'em, utilize 'em." Safety Brian Branch couldn't help but laugh when asked about the offense stretching the field thus far and said, "He's definitely going deep."
"For one, get y’all popcorn ready for Jamo, man," said Branch, teammates with Williams at Alabama. "It’s going to be fun to watch him this year. I feel like that’s exactly what he needed."
"I’m very excited where he’s at right now," said Morton. "He’s going to help us win some big games, obviously.”