Unfortunately for the Lions, Jameson Williams will end his second regular season in the NFL where he started it: on the sidelines.
Williams has been ruled out of the Lions' season finale Sunday against the Vikings after injuring his ankle on a 63-yard catch in last week's loss to the Cowboys and fighting an illness this week. He was unable to participate in any of Detroit's three practices.
Williams will end his second NFL season, which he began by serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's gambling policy, with 24 catches on 42 targets for 354 yards and two touchdowns. He added 29 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The former 12th overall pick, who also missed most of his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL, has caught 25 passes for 395 yards and three touchdowns in 18 career games with the Lions. The club will hope that he's ready to go for the start of the playoffs next week. Williams seemed to be finding his stride at the time of his injury.
The Lions have also ruled out tight end Brock Wright (hip) and linebacker James Houston (ankle) for Sunday, meaning that Houston's potential return to the lineup after fracturing his ankle in Week 2 would come in the playoffs.
"It’s a lot to ask," Dan Campbell said Friday. "Not that it can’t happen, because I know this, he's looked a lot better this week than last week or when we got him up."
Houston, who had eight sacks in seven games last season, returned to practice last week. Campbell said that Houston isn't yet ready to help the Lions win games, but that he might be in the near future -- and that he's not surprised that the recovery hasn't been as swift as Houston hoped.
"That’s the way it is when it’s been a while and you’re coming off the injury he came off of, it’s going to take a minute to feel good about it," Campbell said. "And then, OK, now that I feel good about it, how do I win and produce with it? It’s one thing to just go out there and run around. But if you can’t produce, that doesn’t help him or us."
Campbell said that for Houston, "it’s just a matter of how fast you can get your confidence back and your own abilities, your body."
"You’re rusty," he said. "It takes a minute to get used to what it is because it’s not going to feel like it did before, it just never does. A lot of that will be just time on task, him out there moving, running and see how far he can come.”
Questionable for Sunday are defensive tackle Alim McNeill (knee) and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (pec), though Campbell has indicated that both players will return to the lineup.