Lions OC Ben Johnson admits he ‘hoped it would click’ faster for Jameson Williams
The Detroit Lions are very pleased with Jameson Williams, their rookie wide receiver. Don’t misconstrue anything offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said about “Jamo” on Thursday as not being happy with the rookie.
But Williams hasn’t made much of an impact on the stat sheet in his first few NFL games. In five weeks, Williams has only one reception: a touchdown against Minnesota and a 40 yard run against the Bears. He’s dropped two passes from QB Jared Goff as well, and the duo just doesn’t seem in sync.
In his weekly meeting with journalists, Johnson said that he believed Williams would produce more.
“Yeah, I mean it’s – each week we’re trying to push the envelope a little bit and maybe learn a couple of different routes that he hasn’t been taught yet or put him a little different spot,” Johnson said of Williams. “So, yeah each week we’re trying to do that and it’s just how fast can we get him along, feeling comfortable with it and it’s been – I hoped it would click just a little bit faster than it has, I think we all have.
But that’s – it takes time sometimes and we’re not losing faith; we’re going to keep pressing it and it’ll end up clicking. At some point, he’ll have a big game and be like, ‘OK, that’s why. That’s why we took him where we took him.’ And that’s why he can help us so much.”
Williams has not been able to do any offseason practice since he was discharged from the ACL injury and surgery in January. Williams and Goff both are trying to catch up as the Lions push for an automatic postseason berth.
Johnson was not concerned about Williams’ two missed passes and explained why.
“Yeah, I think the first one we threw to him was a little bit behind. Jared (Goff) I believe, wishes he could have gotten it just slightly further ahead. But no, for us, we still labeled it as a drop because anytime it touches one of our pass catchers’ hands, we have high standards in them. So, I know Jamo wishes he would have caught it and then Jared needs to put that ball out in front so it’s a two-way street there, but no, we really don’t have concerns with drops or anything.”