Jameson Williams dropped almost as many passes (three) as he caught (four) in the Detroit Lions' season-opening win over the New Orleans Saints, but Williams' rough debut isn't raising red flags for Lionscoach Dan Campbell.
"I’m not concerned," Campbell said in his weekly interview Tuesday, Sept. 15, on 97.1-FM (WXYT). "I mean, look, nobody’s more frustrated than he is about it, but what I love is this just shows his growth. He bounced back, he gets back in the huddle. He’s not sulking, he’s not pouting about it, he’s not letting it go in the tank. Listen, man, all you can do is reload, regroup and go back for more, and that’s what he’s done a good job of."
Williams is coming off the best season of his career with 65 catches for 1,117 yards and
was widely praised for his strong training camp, but the fifth-year receiver has had drop problems throughout his career.
As a rookie in 2022, Williams dropped three of his nine targets, and last year, he had an 11.8% drop rate and a league-leading 12 drops, according to Pro Football Reference.
The Lions leaned heavily on Jahmyr Gibbs (186 scrimmage yards, two TDs) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (10 catches, 67 yards, 2 TDs) for offense in their opener, and Campbell said he hopes to get No. 3 receiver Isaac TeSlaa more involved in the offense going forward.
TeSlaa did not catch a pass and had only one target in 52 offensive snaps against the Saints.
"We’d like to get him a couple of more opportunities here," Campbell said. "Especially, man, he did so much dirty work the other day. Like 50 plays and he’s blocking his rear off the whole game and he doesn’t ever complain or bitch about anything. And so, he’s earned that right to get a couple of throws here, so yeah, he’s on our mind. We’d like to have him part of this thing in the pass game."
As for Williams, Campbell said he'll get his before long, too.
"Nobody’s had a better camp than Jamo this year," Campbell said. "A spring, a camp. He’s going to be fine and we get him a couple of balls here, a couple of throws, let him take off and he’s going to be just fine, so I’m not concerned at all."
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Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions coach Dan Campbell 'not concerned' about Jameson Williams' drops
