Jameson Williams knows his time is coming. John Morton wants to ensure that it arrives sooner than later.
The Lions offensive coordinator talked with their most explosive receiver after the team's bye and told Williams that "I failed him" in the first seven games of the season when Williams caught just 17 passes, and assured him that "I'm going to do a better job" moving forward.
Morton also told Williams that "I wouldn’t fault you if you were pissed at me, because I’ve coached that position. I’ve played that position. And I know he works too hard."
Morton said Thursday that Williams took it in stride and "doesn't sweat it," and vowed to be more proactive in getting him the ball from here on out. That was one of Morton's main assignments during the bye week, to "create how to get him" open, in addition to troubleshooting the Lions' struggles on third down.
"I looked at everything, as far as that. I’m going to do a better job with that," Morton said. "But there have been opportunities where it just didn’t happen. It’s not like we aren’t trying to target him."
On third down in particular, where the Lions rank 22nd in the NFL this season, Morton said opposing teams are doubling Amon-Ra St. Brown and/or Williams to deny them the ball, "so I have to be creative. I have to go in the archives to try to get these guys open better."
Williams said Thursday that he appreciated that Morton "came to me and expressed to me how he felt ... because he obviously sees it, and that’s just the main thing, acknowledging it. We went so long without acknowledging it, so acknowledgement was the best thing about that."
While Williams said he wasn't "too far into thinking about" his own production with the Lions off to a strong start, he's tied for 120th in the NFL in catches, tied for 88th in targets (30) and tied for 64th in receiving yards (289). Winning or not, that doesn't add up for a receiver coming off a 1,000-yard season who just signed an $83 million extension because of his game-breaking ability.
"We were winning games, so I could never get myself too worked up with me getting the ball or me getting targeted or things like that," he said. "I know it’s gonna come. It’s a long season."
Williams said his chat with Morton came on the field before practice earlier this week and that they came out of it with "an understanding of how we’re going to move forward." He said he's not "frustrated at all ... not angry" and while he "would like more" catches -- who wouldn't? -- "I'm good." He said he gleaned this perspective from Teddy Bridgewater, who took Williams under his wing when Bridgewater was backup quarterback for the Lions in 2023.
"When Teddy came around, things weren’t going my way and he just told me to stay focused and keep moving forward. The life we live is different from others, and others want to be in the spot we’re in, so we can never take it for granted or get too worked up on ourself about mishaps or when things aren’t going right," Williams said. "You just gotta keep going until eventually it’s going to get right."
Williams broke through last season when he caught 58 passes for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns and finished second in the NFL in yards per catch. He ranks fifth in the latter category this season -- just a hair below his average last year -- which is part of the reason defenses play so many shell coverages against the Lions.
"I see more help over me, I see the way that they spread out their defense," he said. "The defenses try to take 14 out the game, they try to take me and my ability to go over the top out the game. That’s the main thing I've been seeing in the first half. We got plans to attacking it and we got a lot of players, so we’re never really worried about one person getting taken out the game because we got the players who can go make explosives and touchdowns and plays for us. So, try to take one player out the game for us, I don’t think that’s a good plan."
The Lions can expect similar coverages Sunday against the Vikings, although Minnesota's blitzing defense could present opportunities for Williams to get loose down the field. He'll break through eventually. It's just a matter of when.
"I know my time coming, I know it’s coming," he said. "I’m ready, whenever it comes."