It doesn’t sound like we’ll see Jameson Williams again until the middle of October. The Lions wideout suffered a hamstring injury this week that will keep him out of the team’s remaining preseason contests, according to Justin Rogers of The Detroit News.
[RELATED: NFL Suspends Lions WR Jameson Williams]
Williams placed a bet on a non-NFL game while at the Lions facility, resulting in a six-game ban to begin the season. That means we won’t see the second-year wideout again until October 22 at the earliest. As Rogers writes, the Lions were planning to “douse” Williams with preseason snaps in anticipation of his absence, but an injury this week will limit the wideout to only one preseason contest. Williams had a pair of catches during Detroit’s preseason opener against the Giants.
The receiver was spotted grabbing his hamstring after running a deep route at practice on Wednesday. As Rogers points out, it was Williams’ other hamstring that forced him to miss a handful of practices during the early part of training camp. The injury provides an interesting wrinkle when considering the player’s impending suspension. Rogers writes that NFL rules require Williams to be away from the team for the first three weeks of his six-game ban. This means the player wouldn’t be able to receive treatment for his hamstring, although the organization is reportedly “exploring an exemption.”
Williams will now be missing crucial developmental reps that he didn’t get in 2022. The first-round pick was still rehabbing from a torn ACL at this time last year, and that recovery ended up extending through the first 11 games. Williams managed to return for six games, with the rookie garnering only 78 offensive snaps.
While the injury is discouraging, Lions coach Dan Campbell doesn’t believe it will have a massive impact on Williams’ development.
“As long as he stays on top of the mental portion of it, you can get a lot out of the mental work,” Campbell said (via Rogers). “If he grinds on that, takes care of the hamstring, we’ll take it as it comes.”
I will be avoiding this guy in ffb this year. Bad reports of catching issues coming out of camp, 6 game suspension, and now hamstring problems. Once a guy starts having hamstring issues it commonly becomes a reoccurring injury throughout their career. 12th pick overall, still a long way to go before that selection can be considered worth it.
You’d think that all of those missed games would affect his readiness, but this stuttering in Williams’ availability is really affecting his ability from what it seems. Maybe he will get into a groove at the year’s end, but right now it looks like it could be another year spent in development rather than in effectiveness on Williams’ part. The silver lining for Detroit is that they’ve learned to play without him, so whatever Williams can end up giving on the field should just be extra.
Thanks for the support fellas. Let’s burn one together.
This kid is going to be a bust. He is so immature and has severe drop issues. Just listening to him talk to the media and with his coaches, he just lacks so much for a 1st round pick. But Campbell and Holmes will give him every single benefit of the doubt in his development before cutting bait. His route running needs a lot of work and I think he basically got by at Bama on his speed alone and it shows in the NFL. Time will tell, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst…
Did he get a free ride to Vegas so he’s faking an injury? That bonus money isn’t gonna last long. He’ll be flipping burgers and going You want fries wit dat soon enough. The Ryan Pace philosophy at it’s best. Waste a 1st round draft pick on a WR who’s injured. Except the Lions went one better. Draft one that’s injured and gambles. Well played.
Im not writing him off yet, but he sure is disappointing. We knew about college injuries, but the gambling thing is really unfortunate.
He did make an absolutely legal bet, but he did it from the facility.
Silly, but he still needs to be accountable as a pro. The NFL needs to educate rookies and reinforce this so this doesn’t happen.
I still think this guy can ball, and if the Lions get impatient – another GM will benefit.