Detroit Lions rookie receiver Jameson Williams got his feet wet in their Week 13 win over Jacksonville, his first snaps of the season since suffering an ACL tear in college. Now the Lions hope to see the wideout plunge further into the water.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Thursday that Williams could have more opportunities in Sunday’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
“Yeah, I hope so,” Johnson said. “I don’t know what that means necessarily for the rep count, but it’s encouraging to finally get some opportunities to hook up in practice, both in routes on air and in competitive periods, because that chemistry as we talked about last week, that’s critical, that’s big. Knowing where he’s gonna be, what the top of his break’s going to look like, so our quarterback can anticipate that throw, that goes a long way.”
Williams played just eight snaps in Week 13’s blowout win. Two of those came in victory formation, and four were running plays. The Alabama product saw one target on a sideline throw but couldn’t corral the pigskin.
Johnson noted that last week the Lions simply wanted Williams to experience an NFL game, noting he hadn’t put on pads or gone through pregame warmups.
“Oh, it was good,” Williams said of his first game. “We got a great offense. You see we put up 40 points? We’ve been more consistent this whole year. We've had a lot of great scoring games, a lot of great games on the offensive side of the ball. Being able to watch that, it’s just great knowing that my talent is going to be added to that soon.
“It’s going to be something that’s real exciting to watch.”
We don’t expect Williams to go from eight snaps to 40 this week, but somewhere around 15-20 would make sense in his second game back from a serious knee injury. The Lions should also add some designed plays for the first-rounder, who brings an explosive element to an already potent Detroit offense.