After returning to practice Tuesday, Jameson Williams expects to make his season debut Sunday. The decision belongs to Dan Campbell and the Lions, but it's really up to Williams himself.
With a few more days of practice this week, the second-year receiver needs to show the coaches they can trust him come Sunday. If they can, Williams will be active.
"Just the trust that we know he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there," Campbell said Wednesday on they Stoney & Jansen Show. "He’s going to be in the alignment he’s supposed to be in, he’s going to hit the depth he’s supposed to be. As long as that trust is there, and we’re like, alright, man, these plays that we have for him, we know he’s going to be on it, then absolutely we’re going to feel pretty good about that."
If Williams does play, he won't play a lot. As Campbell said Monday, the Lions can't put 60 snaps on him from the jump. The most snaps he's played in the NFL is 18 in Detroit's blowout of Chicago late last season, after he spent most of the year recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at Alabama. Williams never even played 40 snaps in a game in college.
Tuesday was his first practice with the Lions since he injured his hamstring in training camp, a setback that bled into his gambling suspension. Williams was reinstated two games early by the NFL and expects to hit the ground running, but he still has a good deal of catching-up to do according to Campbell. The former 12th overall pick has missed 15 of his first 21 games in the NFL.
"He literally just got back," Campbell said. "I can tell you this, he’s running well. I know that. Now it’s, man, let the progression begin again. Let’s start working everything back in. We’re a little bit from the ground back up because now he’s back to football. Now it’s just building trust and a rapport with (Jared) Goff and getting him some things that we feel like he can really sink his teeth into."
Goff and Williams haven't had the sharpest connection in their short time together. Eight of the nine passes Goff threw his way last season hit the ground, and they weren't suddenly in rhythm in training camp. Of course, the one pass they did connect on went for a 41-yard touchdown and they had another long touchdown called back for a penalty in the season finale. Goff, for his part, said Tuesday that he and Williams are already in-sync.
"There’s really no getting on the same page with him," he said. "I feel good with him on really everything right now.”
In all likelihood, Williams will be active Sunday and the Lions will have a small package of plays for him. He played eight snaps in his debut last season and averaged 14 the rest of the way. That's a logical starting point for him this year, with the hope that he emerges more quickly.
"We cannot overload him," said Campbell. "Yes, we’d love to get him up to speed, but we don’t want to overload him, either. That wouldn’t be fair to him. And then, let’s go. Let’s see where he can take us a little bit."
"I’m good, I feel good," Williams said Tuesday. "Over time we got everything together and we ready to go."