Jameson Williams dropped a pass Monday. Actually, he dropped three, according to some who watched the Detroit Lions receiver practice in Allen Park.
Three.
Which can only mean one thing: move him out.
And if he can’t be traded, cut him.
Three drops? In only the second padded training camp practice of his career? Yeah, he’s done. A bust. In over his head.
What more evidence do you want?
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You don’t need any? Well just in case you’re debating the know-it-all fella on the stool next to you and he thinks Williams needs — or, God forbid, deserves — more time, lay this on him.
It’s shocking, egregious, even shockingly egregious and I can’t believe I’m about to type these words in what’s supposed to be a family-friendly newspaper (whatever that means). But here goes nothing.
Willams talked trash. Worse, he got into a shoving match/skirmish with a rookie cornerback because he was frustrated with his play.
Please forgive me. I know such reporting is harsh. Obviously, don’t tell your kids. After all, we’re talking about a shove. So, yeah, ship him out.
In fact, Brad Holmes should take the podium before the Lions return to practice Wednesday and use two words:
“Mea Culpa!!!!”
Nice going, Brad. All those promising picks? All that faith you’ve given the Lions faithful that you might know what you’re doing?
Gone.
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So what that the first preseason game is still 10 days away? So what if Williams missed his first training camp because he was rehabbing from an ACL tear he sustained at Alabama? So what if he only played six games last season? So what if he pulled his hamstring last week and missed five days of training camp?
The experts and aficionados have spoken. Williams will clearly never get better. He’s already 22, which is 52 in NFL years, which means he shoulda been in a Pro Bowl by now, and halfway to Canton, Ohio.
That’s the home of the Hall of Fame, and everyone knows that no one ever got there by struggling out of college. Noooooo sir, the Hall of Fame is for those that never take the wrong step.
Williams, then, can’t ever get there. The Lions messed up. Were blinded by Williams’ speed, by all those clips of him running free at Alabama, 5, 10, 20 yards from the nearest cornerback.
And that line about Williams being a “football” player? Yeah, that’s how Holmes described him on draft night, implying that Williams liked to hit, loved to tackle, played like a missile on special teams, unafraid to get physical despite his outrageous talent as a receiver.
Those were empty words, like Williams’ empty practice Monday. And when he laid out a defender down the field to free rookie running back, Jahmyr Gibbs for a big gain? That wasn’t actually a block. The defender stumbled.
I’m confident Holmes and Campbell and Ben Johnson will see that on film and will want to take his jersey, if they haven’t already taken it.
Who wants a fake blocker?
Or someone who would say he didn’t feel a sense of urgency when asked about returning to practice Monday and with his six-game suspension on the horizon?
Can you believe that? Williams had the temerity to say nah, he didn’t feel urgency because he gets in work every day. Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. This is a young man who said he was looking forward to “putting on a show” when he returns from his suspension.
As if he were some kind of entertainer that performed on television and in front of thousands of paying fans. The gall, right?
How dare he. He’s a football player. And football players don’t get frustrated, they don’t drop passes, they don’t mistime running routes, especially since they’ve been in the league for so long, like Williams has.
Six games?
Yeah, that’s enough to see what he is. One padded training camp practice? Need I say more?
He’s done. The Lions blew it. Never mind that Williams deked C.J. Gardner-Johnson so thoroughly he fell to the grass. Gardner-Johnson is only one of the Lions’ best defensive backs who told reporters a day earlier “don’t worry about (Williams). He ready.
Of course, Gardner-Johnson said that. He’s a teammate. And teammates always exaggerate. They never speak their mind, even when they are a player known for speaking their mind.
It’s all a ruse, truth be told.
A conspiracy. Those play well these days, right?
Sound silly? Ridiculous?
You bet it does.
Williams had a tough first day with pads on. He also made plays.
He did both, because he’s young, younger by experience. He deserves some time to see what he can become.
I’d give him at least another week.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.