Allen Park — Pressure and attention are two different things.
Jameson Williams doesn’t feel pressure.
“I was born for this,” he told reporters Monday.
But he does, in fact, feel the attention, the eyes — the insatiable curiosity about this blazing receiver with the potential to do something amazing at any time, any place. He doesn’t mind that part.
“I wouldn’t say I want the eyes off of me because I want ‘em on me, you know?” Williams said Monday. “Eventually they’ll be on me. So I wouldn’t say there’s pressure in that. I don’t feel no pressure.”
This has been an important summer for Williams, and until he returns to action in Week 7, it’s hard to gauge exactly what his involvement will look like or how impactful he’ll be in this Lions’ offense, which suddenly has a bevy of receivers near the bottom of the roster who figure to pull their own weight here and there.
It’s been said before, but bears repeating: This is Williams’ first real training camp. The former Alabama wideout was rehabbing an ACL throughout the summer last season, making 2023 his first real chance to enter the laboratory of camp — try new things, develop skills, make mistakes free of consequence.
Williams and quarterback Nate Sudfeld have struggled to develop a connection on the second-team offense, rendering critical practice time for Williams ineffective. The Lions are hoping adding Teddy Bridgewater will go a long way in helping Williams find his groove.
“We just went over some routes and got some good work in after practice. I would say it’s to help me and help (Bridgewater), so we really helping each other as we get to go through the playbook and things like that, but it’s good. We all teammates and he brings a lot to the room,” Williams said.
“It’s a high respect, because … he’s been in some situations, he’s been playing football for a long time. … I’ve been in the league two years … I think he 10 in. That’s half my age. I’m just saying like, you can learn a lot from somebody who’s spent a lot of time in systems and knowing what’s going on and things like that, so he’ll be a great mentor for people.”
In a way, his mistake of betting on non-NFL games from a team facility has cost him the ability to make mistakes in training camp. His struggles have been amplified because of the sense of urgency to make sure he’s more or less a finished product before he’s locked out of the building for six weeks, resetting all that momentum.
Williams had an up-and-down preseason debut in a 21-16 victory against the New York Giants at Ford Field, as a handful of good plays — including a one-handed catch on a two-point conversion — were contrasted with a play that showed the crux of Williams’ current challenge: Hanging onto the football. Sudfeld delivered a bomb in-stride to Williams, who’d gained separation, that bounced off the receiver’s hands for an incompletion.
He caught two other passes for 18 yards. Still, getting back on the field was a step in itself.
“I haven’t been out and played that many reps in so long, so I guess it was for me to get my feet under myself and be prepared for when the time comes and things like that,” Williams said of his preseason debut. “So it was good for me. I felt like I got out there and did the right thing, lined up well, did some things — we got some things to fix, for sure, but I did pretty well.”
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For him, the preseason is the season.
“I treat every game like (that). I treat practice like the regular season. I’m trying to go out there and run my full speed, make sure we get this down … I’m out there, I gotta miss a couple games, so for sure, I gotta go out there and give it my all to make sure I’m getting things right and on top of things.”
Williams said his goal for the preseason is to continue building good habits so they can be second nature when he returns.
“Just catching the ball, tucking and getting to the tuck all the way, not trying to make my move when I see the defense or the defender right there … things like that,” Williams said.
“But my main goal is to stay conditioned, stay ready for when that time come, when I get back to practicing with the guys, it’s gonna be full go.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi