Jared Goff: Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams’ speed reminds me of Brandin Cooks

Detroit Free Press

Brandin Cooks had the best receiving season of his career with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018, when Jared Goff was his quarterback and he averaged more than 10 yards per target.

Goff said Wednesday he sees a little bit of Cooks in his new speed-demon receiver, Detroit Lions rookie Jameson Williams.

“He’s fast,” Goff said. “He’s very fast. He’s very, very fast.”

Asked to put Williams’ speed in perspective, Goff said the rookie reminds him of Cooks, a six-time 1,000-yard receiver who had a career-high 1,204 yards on 80 catches in his first season with the Rams in 2018.

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“Brandin Cooks is probably the fastest guy I’ve played with, and it’s a different type of speed, though,” Goff said. “And again, I haven’t seen him play in a real game, but he’s longer. He’s a stride guy. He’s got length, he’s got wingspan. Brandin was more just kind of a burner and has done that well for a long time, but Jameson, he can extend on guys. He can really make catches away from his body, that type of stuff.”

Williams took part in his first practice as a Lion on Wednesday as he makes his way back from the torn ACL he suffered last January in his final college game at Alabama. He caught passes during individual drills in front of reporters, and showed his acceleration pulling away from Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond in a tag drill.

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Last week, Williams ran routes and caught passes for backup quarterback Tim Boyle when the Lions held only walk-through practices to get ready for their Thanksgiving game against the Buffalo Bills.

On Wednesday, he and Goff worked extensively together for the first time this fall, and Goff said he came away impressed by what he saw.

“Looked good,” Goff said. “Did some stuff limited today, but looked good and we’ll see how he progresses. If it’s this week, if it’s next week, if it’s the week after I don’t know, but looked good to me.”

Bye-bye, Boyle

The Chicago Bears signed Boyle off the Lions practice squad Wednesday as they manage injuries at the quarterback position. Bears starter Justin Fields did not play last week against the New York Jets because of a shoulder injury, and backup Trevor Siemian was injured in pregame warmups.

Siemian started and threw for 179 yards against the Jets, but did not practice Wednesday. Fields was limited.

Boyle started three games for the Lions last season, completing 61 of 94 passes (64.9%) with three touchdowns and six interceptions.

He lost a training camp battle to David Blough for the backup job this summer, but re-signed to the practice squad after Blough was waived and chose to join the Minnesota Vikings practice squad rather than stay in Detroit.

“Selfishly bummed, but happy for him,” Goff said. “He gets to be a part of an active roster now and get a chance out there to do some things. Happy for him. Obviously, we’ll miss him here and hopefully can get in the same room with him again one day.”

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Briefly

The Lions practiced without the right side of their starting offensive line Wednesday as tackle Penei Sewell and guard Evan Brown sat out with ankle injuries. Linebacker Julian Okwara (elbow) and Ifeatu Melifonwu (illness) also did not participate, while Jeff Okudah and Jonah Jackson practiced in red no-contact jerseys as they returned from brain injuries.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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