Lions head coach Dan Campbell made his first public comments about the reported Jameson Williams suspension.
The NFL has yet to officially announce a two-game suspension for Jameson Williams, but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday morning that the team is prepared to be without him.
“All I can tell you is we’re prepared to not have him,” Campbell said on his weekly appearance on the Costa & Jansen show with Heather radio show.
Until the NFL officially hands down their judgement, Campbell said he cannot comment any further on the situation. Per ESPN’s Eric Woodyard, Williams’ two-game suspension is for a violation of the leagues’ Performance Enhancing Substances policy. Per the official NFL policy, a positive test for a stimulant, diuretic, or masking agent results in a two-game suspension for a first time offender. If the violation was for an anabolic agent, it would carry a six-game suspension.
Campbell expressed confidence that the Lions offense—with the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, and Tim Patrick—will be just fine without Williams for the next two games—home vs. the Titans and a road trip to take on the Green Bay Packers.
“We’ll be fine,” Campbell said. “That’s why we have (Ka)lif, and Saint, and (Sam) LaPorta and TP and Allen Robinson, among other things with David Montgomery, (Jahmyr) Gibbs. We’ll be fine. We’ll move on.”
The Lions offense has been electric this season, ranking third in points per game (30.3) and second in yards per play. Without a doubt, Williams’ growth in Year 3 has been a big part of that. His 361 receiving yards and three touchdowns nearly match his production from the first two years of his Lions career.
But his impact has gone beyond the catches he’s made. Not only is he a willing downfield blocker, but several coaches have noted that he is changing the way opposing defenses are playing him.
“I think people are starting to realize that we don’t want to single him out. Defenses don’t want to single him out because he will make them pay,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said last week. “They’re not as fast as him, it’s as simple as that. Hopefully, we continue to get these one-on-one matchups because we are so dynamic elsewhere as well. I think early on in that (Dallas) game last week, they had the philosophy to play more two-high to limit guys like Jameson and you saw what our run game did early on in that game.”
As of Tuesday morning, the NFL has still not officially announced the two-game suspension for Williams.
