On Sunday, Detroit Lions receiver Jameson Williams took the opening handoff for 1 yard. On the next drive, he caught a 9-yard pass. That would end up being the last time Williams touched the ball in the entire game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, he never even saw another target for the remainder of the game.
Yet, despite the lack of production in the receiving game, Williams made coach Dan Campbell’s list of standouts in his Monday afternoon press conference. And when Campbell got to Williams’ name, he made sure to stop and explain why.
“Jamo, he didn’t have this high production of the catches, the targets, but, man, his blocking was outstanding in run game,” Campbell said. “All day long, he was physical, getting after it. So he found another way to help us produce and help the offense.”
It’s been a relatively slow start to the season for Williams. In the past three games, he has just five catches for 92 yards. For the season, he ranks 48th with 223 total receiving yards. That has some wondering if the Lions were right in handing Williams a three-year, $80 million extension just over a month ago.
Campbell believes part of the reason for Williams’ lack of production is that opposing defenses are allocating extra resources to make sure the speedy receiver doesn’t beat them deep.
“He gets a lot of attention put his way when he’s out there. They don’t particularly want him to go over their heads. So there’s a lot of looks where either they stay deep, very deep, or they play a shell look over the top of him,” Campbell said.
That helps clear out the middle of the field as well.
While the Bengals may have limited Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown (eight catches, 100 yards) and Sam LaPorta (five catches, 92 yards, TD) were deadly over the middle of the field on Sunday.
For some receivers, not getting the ball would be a point of contention. Either privately or publicly, we’ve seen plenty of high-profile receivers complain about not getting the ball thrown their way. That’s not Williams, though.
“I just can’t be out there pouting while the games going on, because the play could come my way, and I won’t even be in the right mindset,” Williams said a couple weeks back when asked how he’s able to concentrate on blocking when the ball isn’t coming his way regularly. “I just keep a clear mind when I’m out there on the field. Not worried about targets, I was more worried about the win.”
That’s the exact mindset that has always made Campbell so impressed with the young receiver.
“It’s not always the easiest thing. You’re a receiver, man. You feel like that’s the best way to help is you get the targets. But he just helped in other ways, and he didn’t let it affect him,” Campbell said. “He was going to help those other guys downfield; he was going to help our runners, and he did. He showed up in a big way. He was physical in the run game. He’s a team guy, and we appreciate that about him.”
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