The Detroit Lions opened their preseason Friday night at Ford Field and the obvious question is when will Teddy Bridgewater be ready. They could’ve used the newly signed backup quarterback, but then they knew what he could do. That’s why they signed him.
They aren’t sure yet what Jameson Williams can do. But they are hoping. One thing is for sure, they would love to see more one-handed, contested grabs in the end zone, like he had in his preseason debut.
No, it wasn’t for a touchdown. Yes, it was the best catch Williams has had all training camp.
The second-year receiver caught the two-point conversion on a shallow crossing route after deking his defender at the line of scrimmage. It came one play after Williams had sprinted from the bench to the end zone to meet former USFL receiver Maurice Alexander, who’d just spun and sprinted and spun and sprinted some 95 yards for a touchdown on a punt return.
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Williams was so excited a coach had to track him down to send him on the field for the two-point attempt. If you’re inclined to nitpick, you might get on him for forgetting about the next play, and the possibility that he might have been needed.
Or, if you’re inclined to be patient, as this franchise will surely have to be with him, then point to his sprint to Alexander in a the Lions’ 21-16 preseason win over the Giants. That’s the sign of someone who is engaged. It’s also a sign of a good teammate.
“That doesn’t shock me with Jamo,” said Dan Campbell, “Jamo, man … listen, at the end of the day you could tell he gets excited for his teammates. He’s in it.”
And?
“He’s got growth to do.”
A lot of it.
Whatever else is said about Williams at this point in his career — and a lot has been said — the enthusiasm is a reminder of why the Lions took a chance on him, along with his speed, of course.
Williams played essentially one year of college football, at least where he made a difference. It was a spectacular year. And he’s spectacularly fast.
He’s also raw, thinnish, and got to the NFL used to catching passes with his chest because he could run so far past defenders in college that he didn’t need to use his hands in super tight spaces. He does here. And did Friday night, though he only caught one other pass aside from the one-hander in the end zone.
He also dropped a pass, just off his fingertips, and got mixed up on route with Nate Sudfeld that led to the quarterback’s first interception. Sudfeld got hit as he threw it and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
Campbell was more forgiving, saying the pick wasn’t either Sudfeld or Williams’ fault.
“I don’t count that one,” he said. “I put that on us.”
Even if he’s being generous, Sudfeld’s second interception was, in part, the fault of Williams’ lack of route precision and awareness. Then again, the throw was high and wide.
What can’t be questioned about the young speedster is his obvious love of football. That isn’t a given for everyone, even at this level. He likes physicality and blocking and is obviously fearless.
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That’ll give him a chance, as will his speed. Again, he’s played in six games.
Six.
Friday was his first preseason game. This is his first training camp. And, as Campbell said, he considers Williams almost like a rookie.
“I kind of feel like he’s starting from Square 1,” he said.
Dismiss that as spin if you wish, but Campbell doesn’t tend to coddle his players at the microphone. He’ll be the first to tell you that Williams has a “long way to go.”
He’ll also tell you when he thinks a player is moving forward, as he believes Williams did Friday night, and has since, oh, about a week ago or so.
“I feel like his approach has been really good the last seven days,” said Campbell. “He’s taken a total leap. This was Step 1.”
Beyond adjusting to the smaller windows of an NFL secondary, and beyond learning the intricacies of route running at this level, Williams’ biggest adjustment has been learning how to be a pro. How to be where he’s supposed to be in the practice building and be completely focused when he’s there.
When Campbell said he’s noticed a change in Williams the last week or so, this is also partly what he means.
“Look,” said Campbell, “I didn’t go into this game saying Jameson needs to have 10 catches and 180 yards. That’s not what I wanted. I just wanted: get lined up (in the right place), (some) urgency, route definition, detail. And, I thought for the most part, he did that. He was in it. He cut it loose.”
If Williams deserves blame for at least one of the picks, then he deserves credit for stopping another. In the third quarter, Sudfeld threw to Williams over the middle, only the pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and tumbled through the air like a spinning bag of potatoes.
A Giants’ defender had a bead on the wounded ball until Williams subtly shoved him offline and may have even grabbed a jersey. The defense Williams played was a gamble, sure, but it prevented a pick, and as much as the Giants protested, no flag was thrown.
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It was a clever move. A football move and not all that dissimilar to the motivation that thrust him down the sideline from the bench to meet Alexander after the punt return.
These things may not mean much if Williams can’t run good enough routes or make contested catches, but they are worth noting, because they should give him a chance and if he takes it and returns from his six-game suspension even more focused, he’ll swing a game for this team.
He’ll catch two passes for 85 yards and one of them will be for a touchdown. Sure, he’ll have a single or zero catch game too, maybe several of them, and that’ll certainly frustrate.
Until he grabs a one-handed pass in the end zone and races back to celebrate with his team. In the meantime, his coach will keep telling him to block out the noise, because it’s out there, much of it brought on by himself.
“It’s like I tell all our guys,” said Campbell, “listen to us, listen to your teammates, listen to the coaches. Honor the tape and let’s get better. He’s done that.”
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.